To Dream of Elves
by sunni07
Summary: [COMPLETE!] Calime is an elf, raised on Earth, who has just discovered M-E. Through the battle for Middle-Earth, she spreads her wings and learns to fly, and becomes who she was born to be. LOC. R&R, please!
1. Life Before

Disclaimer: I do not own the Lord of the Rings or any affiliated merchandise. Darn, and Legolas is so hot, too.  
  
A/N 1: This is a Mary-Sue! And a Legomance! If you don't like that, read it anyways! It's different!  
  
A/N 2: This story also MAY contain some foul language and intimate scenes later on! I don't know if a PG-13 warning is right. If it's not, TELL ME!! Unfortunately, I am not a mind- reader, although I could have some fun with that!  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A buzzing alarm clock woke Sunni from a deep slumber. She groaned.  
  
"Ugh, 5.30 is too early to wake up on summer vacation," she said as she hit the off button.  
  
"You got that right," her brother, Alex, said as he walked into her room.  
  
"Haven't you ever heard of knocking?"  
  
"Yeah, I might have heard of it once or twice. Care to refresh my memory?" was his retort as he dropped himself into the armchair by the window. Well, folded himself, really. At 6'2", he stood a foot above Sunni.  
  
Sunni threw her pillow at him, and they proceeded to have an all out war for the next few minutes.  
  
"Come, dakka. Adam, you have chores to do. Sun, don't you have to be to practice soon?" their mother, Thippayaphim, commonly called Tip, walked into the room. She was already dressed in jeans, a t-shirt and boots, and her straight black hair was pulled into a ponytail.  
  
"Where are Hope and Maja?" Sunni asked. Hope was her five-year-old sister, and Maja was one of Sunni's triplets. The other triplet, Evan, was probably outside already. She shared a room with Maja, but she was gone already.  
  
"They're having breakfast. Up!" came the reply. With a groan, Alex extracted himself from the chair. Sunni rolled out of bed and began pulling on the leotard and track pants she had laid out the night before. She walked over to the mirror above her dresser and surveyed herself critically. An oval face with high cheekbones and almond shaped green eyes, surrounded by masses of black, loose curls stared back at her.  
  
"Argh," she groaned, pulling her hair into a massive ponytail and then tucking it into a scrunchie. "Not perfect, but you'll do for now."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
One and two and three and four, Sunni counted to herself an hour later. "Jump, walkover, leap, extended pirouette, leap, toss, twist jump, split, catch, end."  
  
"Good, Sunni," her coach Alira said. "Now, what can you improve on for the Hill Invitational next week?"  
  
Alira picked up the blue ball and handed her a rope.  
  
"I need to get higher in my leaps and I should be doing a double twist instead of a single with this music."  
  
"Good. Now lets see your rope routine."  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
(A/N: The rhythmic gymnastics scene above is pretty pointless, but it will probably be important to the story later on.)  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Sunni was out riding a few hours later. The horse she was riding was named Liberty, but she always called her Mirimë, which meant free in Elvish, the language of her favorite books, the Lord of the Rings.  
  
"Come on Mir, let's have a trot," she murmured softly while touching the tall horse with her boots, just behind the girth. The horse picked up the faster gait immediately. "Good girl. You'll be ready to compete soon if you keep this up!"  
  
Sunni's mother and aunt owned a large three-day event training stable. Liberty was the horse of one of their newest client, Angela Baerry. Too bad such a great horse was wasted on such a snob. Angela was not a great rider, and spent very little time with her horse, but still walked around the farm like she owned the place. Even easy-going Sunni wanted to strangle her sometimes.  
  
A glittering light caught her eye. She sat deeper in the saddle and slowed Mirimë to a stop. Sunni glanced back to see what was causing the shimmering light. Hanging from a branch on a nearby tree was a small silver object. She carefully turned Mirimë and rode back to the tree. Leaning out of the saddle, she picked up a small, indistinct silver ring. Inside was an inscription in a foreign language.  
  
"Qenya? What is an elvish ring doing in California? There is one ring to bind them, And one ring to... fly them? What the heck?" Well, if it is a joke, I might as well try it on. It is a pretty ring. She slipped the ring onto her middle finger. Suddenly she was falling, falling.  
  
"Uff," was all that she got out as she crashed to the ground, before a harsh voice asked,  
  
"What are you doing laying on the ground? What is your business in the kingdom of Mirkwood?" As Sunni slowly opened one eye, she was greeted with the sight of an arrow, pointed directly into her face.  
  
**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**  
  
AN: Well, what do you guys think? Love letters, hate mail and suggestions will all be read, and hate mail will then be burned. Should I continue? I am going to anyways, so you might as well say yes. 


	2. Is this a sick joke?

Disclaimer: I still don't own Lord of the Rings.  
  
A/N: Also, a note about Sunni: She is multi-lingual, like me. She speaks American Sign, Chinese, Thai, and Spanish, plus Sindarin from her favorite books, the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. And in case y'all are wondering, she is speaking in Westron already. It's an automatic thing when she goes through the portal.  
  
On with the show!!  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* "What are you doing laying on the ground? What is your business in the kingdom of Mirkwood?" As Sunni slowly opened one eye, she was greeted with the sight of an arrow, pointed directly into her face. Sunni closed her eyes again. This has to be some cruel joke by Alex and Evan.  
  
When she didn't respond, the person who had first spoken began to nudge her with his foot.  
  
"I'm thinking!" Sunni spat out. She lifted the foot farther from the person and swung her leg around, hitting him in the back of the legs and knocking him to the ground with a small thump. Sunni smiled a bit at the chuckling she heard, and sat up. Pushing herself to her feet, she brushed herself off and surveyed the scene around her. A small man with a dark red beard, a cloak of chain mail and a helmet stared at her, an amused look on his face. A man with a long gray beard and hair surveyed her critically. The man she had knocked to the ground stood up and glared at Sunni. He had long blond hair, pulled back into a braid. He was dressed in a tunic and tight breeches that made Sunni suck in her breath a bit.  
  
If this is a joke, I will play along. Those two will not get the best of me. Thinking quickly, she formulated her story. The others seemed to be waiting for her to speak.  
  
"I will tell you who I am if you tell me who you are and why you are dressed like that." The blond man opened his mouth, as if to deliver an angry retort, then closed it and looked at the older man. The older man nodded slightly, and the blond one began to speak.  
  
"I am Legolas, son of Thranduil, Prince of the Mirkwood Kingdom. The short one is Gimli, son of Glóin. He is Gandalf the Grey, and you are dressed the same as me," he said. Sunni looked down and realized that he was right. She was dressed in a light blue tunic and darker breeches, black boots covering her feet. A hooded cloak covered muck of her body and head. "Who are you, master elf, and what is your business in these woods?"  
  
Sunni was miffed at being called master, and pushed back the hood that covered her head. Her black hair fell free of its bindings, and Legolas's jaw dropped a bit before he quickly composed himself.  
  
"I am Calimë. I am a messenger from Rivendell. I fell from my horse, and now I can not find my horse or my way home," Sunni began, the story coming out more easily than she thought it would.  
  
"Would that be your horse over there?" Gimli asked, pointing over her shoulder. Sunni "Calimë" glanced back, and was startled by what she saw. A gorgeous gray horse, bridle hanging to the ground, was grazing peacefully in the clearing surrounded by forest.  
  
"Mirimë?" The horse looked up at the familiar nickname, and snorted. She jogged over to the horse and lifted the reins. "You big goof, how did you get here?"  
  
Sunni was beginning to think that this was not just a joke. Was it possible that she really had found a way into a fictional story? She stroked Mirimë's nose thoughtfully. "You say that you cannot remember how to return to Rivendell?" Legolas asked. Sunni nodded and he continued. "Well, how do we know that you are telling the truth, and that you are not a spy?"  
  
"Why would you have reason not to believe me?"  
Score one for me! Sunni thought, as she watched their stumped faces. Then Legolas's face brightened, ever so slightly. Darn, I thought that would work.  
  
"If you are a mere messenger, why do you carry weapons?"  
  
What weapons? Sunni looked down again and saw for the first time a sword strapped to her waist. Glancing at Mirimë, she say that attached to the saddle was a quiver and bow. Why do I have these weapons?  
  
"Because..." she started, once again thinking quickly "...with all of the orc attacks of late, I did not feel it was wise to travel unarmed." Sunni quickly thought of what their next question would be. "And if you are wondering why a girl is a messenger for Lord Elrond, it is because I have no family or home, and he offered me this job."  
  
"Well, if you are truly not a spy, then we can show you the way to Rivendell," Gandalf said.  
  
"Do you really think that that is wise, Gandalf?" Seriously, that Legolas character was beginning to get on Sunni's nerves. Gandalf gave Legolas a piercing look, then looked back to Sunni.  
  
"Yes, I am sure. We had better keep moving if we wish to reach Rivendell before Frodo and the others." Sunni turned to Mirimë and prepared to mount. Suddenly she was overcome with dizziness, and everything turned black. What is going on?  
  
To my reviewers: Thank you for your nice reviews! I plan to continue forever! (Just kidding) 


	3. Images

Disclaimer: Lord of the Rings is MINE ALL MINES MUAHAHAHAHA! Just kidding  
  
A/N: I hope you all enjoyed my wonderful cliffhanger! If you don't understand something, please say so in your reviews and I will explain it to the best of my abilities!  
  
A/N: From now on, I will be referring to Sunni as Sunni when she is in the "real world" and as Calinë when she is in Middle-earth.  
  
Also, there isn't going to be a Boromir until later in the story. I changed it a bit.  
  
Reviewer notes:  
  
Let's get on with the freak show!  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Chapter 3: Images  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Calinë? What is wrong?" Legolas stepped forward. Sunni's head spun, and she heard a voice, distantly, a haunting whisper that was otherworldly, yet so real, filling her head. 'A danger grows, trailing the four companions. A lurking menace that will not rest until there is no hope or spirit left. It must be stopped...'  
  
"Calimë?" Legolas's voice brought her back to the clearing in the woods. "Are you alright?"  
  
"Y-yes, I am fine. I must have hit my head harder than I thought, though." Gandalf and Legolas exchanged concerned looks then.  
  
"You are not fit to ride, then," Gandalf said. Calimë began to protest, but one look from the old wizard silenced her. "No arguments. You will ride with Legolas. We must hasten to Rivendell."  
  
Calimë saw that it would be futile to argue. She took off her sword and strapped it onto Mir's saddle, then, ignoring Legolas's offered hand, easily swung into the saddle. Legolas, clearly surprised at her skill, swung up behind her and, reaching around her, picked up the reins. He held them adeptly with one hand, and with the other hand held her waist gently. Calimë was startled at the shiver that traveled up and down her spine at his touch. As Legolas urged the horse forward, she whistled through her teeth at Mirimë, who lifted her head from the grass and trotted after them. Calimë leaned back into Leogla's firm chest and allowed her thoughts to flow freely through her head. What had that voice meant by the 'growing menace'? She had read the Lord of the Rings books dozens of times, so she could pretty much figure out that it was about Frodo and the other hobbits, but why had this voice come to her? What could she do about that?  
  
"You heard her, didn't you?" Legolas's voice broke into her thoughts.  
  
"What do you mean?" she asked cautiously.  
  
"Lady Galadriel. You heard her, didn't you?" Legolas answered.  
  
"That's who that was? I thought you had to be in Lórien to hear her."  
  
"Usually, but she has a sort of connection with elves. Usually there is enough of a resistance on their end that she can't be heard, but when the barrier is weakened, as by an injury like yours, her thoughts can be heard."  
  
"And you have heard this Lady Galadriel in your head?"  
  
"Yes, several times, and in answer to the other question I know you are going to ask, I knew you had heard her because I heard her to. About the rising menace, I mean."  
  
This is too weird, Calimë thought as she cautiously raised her hand to her ears. They felt the same as they always had, but her ears had always been pointy. It was the one thing that people had made fun of her for, until they realized that she liked them. The taunts had stopped then, but it still remained the one thing that was different between her and her twin Maja, and that one difference had always hurt her, even though she didn't know why. Unique was good, right? Suddenly, thinking of Maja and her family back in California made tears come to her eyes and a sob wracked through her small body. She wiped the tears away quickly, but they kept coming and she couldn't stop the sobs that made her whole body shake.  
  
"What is wrong?" Legolas's voice was filled with confusion and concern. "Are you hurt?"  
  
"N-no. I- just...miss my family, I guess."  
  
"Are they in Rivendell?"  
  
"No. I don't know where they are," Calimë lied. She did know where her family was, she just couldn't figure out how to get to them. Did they miss her? Were they worried? Would she ever see them again? With these thoughts rolling around in her head, she leaned back into Legolas's chest and fell into a restless sleep.  
  
Calimë was awakened a while later by a noise. Legolas had heard it, too: she could feel his whole body tense, right down to the thin fingers that rested gently at her waist.  
  
"Orcs!" Legolas shouted.  
  
To my Reviewers:  
  
Shimmering Omens: Wouldn't we all like a silver ring like that?  
  
Eamane-Elf: No, I don't think there would be this many Legomances. I too found a ring while I was riding. That is what inspired this story.  
  
Red Queen 4: If you have suggestions about spacing, please share. This is how it got formatted when it was uploaded and I do not know how to change it. I wanted to use my own mother's name because this IS a Mary-Sue.  
  
Amadea: Thanks for your review. I have every intention of continuing.  
  
Carcliwen Greenleaf: I know its cliché. Don't say I didn't warn you! 


	4. Orc Attack

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for a soccer ball, an ancient saddle and a bag of Skittles (yummy)  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Chapter Four: Orc Attack  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~~*~*~*~~*~*~*~  
  
Now Calimë's own body tensed as well. Oh, God, don't let me die! Thinking fast as she saw the orcs come over the hill, she whistled loudly under her arm.  
  
"What are you doing?" Legolas exclaimed as she knocked his arm out of the way. He grabbed for her, but she slipped her leg over his horse's neck. Mirimë cantered up alongside his horse, and Calimë jumped, grabbing the cantle and swinging her leg over. Pulling the reins into one hand, she quickly untied the quiver and bow from the saddle. She threw the quiver over her shoulder and, pulling the reins over the pommel, pulled the bow taut and yanked an arrow into it. Aiming at the first orc she saw, she fired. It hit him in the chest and he went down. Yanking another arrow from the quiver, she braved a glance over her shoulder. Legolas was looking at her in disbelief as he readied his own bow. Turning forward again, she aimed and fired.  
  
"TWO! THREE!" Calimë kept counting. She and Legolas kept firing, while Gandalf and Gimli fought with swords and axes. Soon, they were surrounded by dead orcs and the few survivors were retreating. They began slowing their horses.  
  
"Good work, Calimë," Gimli said, out of breath. "You've done this before."  
  
Calimë just smiled.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"We will camp here tonight and move out tomorrow. I will take first watch," Gandalf said as they rode into a clearing protected on one side by a cliff face and two sides by tree stands. Legolas, Gandalf and Calimë tied their horses near a fresh cropping of grass, while Gimli rummaged through a pack. Moments later, he produced a leather pack with bread, apples and mushrooms in it. That's weird, Calimë thought, taking the bread and apple he offered her. I always thought that only hobbits liked mushrooms. Not long after, the others untied their blankets from the saddles and stretched out near each other. Gandalf alone sat near the fire he had built, his sword at the ready and a pipe in hand.  
  
"You had best get some sleep, Calimë, for it has been a long day, and tomorrow will likely be just as long," Gandalf said. Calimë nodded and stretched out in the space Gimli and Legolas had left for her between them. Snuggling between the hard ground and her cloak, she shivered. The night was cold. A moment later, someone covered her with a blanket. Opening one eye, she saw Legolas smile reassuringly. How did he know how scared she was? Darn mind readers.  
  
"Thank you," Calimë whispered. Moments later, she fell into another restless sleep.  
  
****~~~~****~~~~****~~~~****~~~~****  
  
A/N: Well, what do you guys think? Please read and review! Suggestions and CONSTRUCTIVE criticism are very appreciated, as are compliments.  
  
Lady*Light: Thank you for your review! Now that good outweighs bad again, I will continue! Thanks! 


	5. Rivendell

Disclaimer: I don't own LotR, but this story is MINE, ALL MINE!!!! MUAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!  
  
A/N: Because the e-umlaut (ë) is so tedious to type, I will now be referring to Calimë as simply Calime (without the umlaut)  
  
A/N: Due to a question raised by my friend/editor, I thought that I should mention: Sunni/Calime had archery and fencing in school, which made her able to fight the orcs. She used to do horseback archery when hanging out with her brothers, which may sound crazy, but I have done it and it's a lot of fun!  
  
ONWARD!!!! *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Chapter 5: Rivendell  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Calime woke the next morning to low voices. Keeping her eyes closed, she strained to hear.  
  
"How do we know she is not a spy? Is it safe to take her to Rivendell?" Gimli was asking.  
  
"Of course it is safe. Did you not see her fighting those orcs yesterday?" Legolas replied.  
  
"Of course I did, elf-boy. But it could have been just an act."  
  
"Not if you had seen the look in her eyes. That was pure hatred."  
  
"Gandalf?" was Gimli's only answer.  
  
"We need to get to Rivendell. Taking her with us is a risk we must take. She is an elf, and she knows much about Rivendell, things only the very wise or someone who lived there would know," Gandalf replied, for he had spoken to her the previous evening. "We had better move out soon, though, for the Black Riders follow the hobbits, and I do not know how long Strider can keep them safe."  
  
Calime let her eyes slide open then, her mind reeling with thoughts of what she had heard. They thought she was still a spy, even though she had helped them fight those orcs the day before. What would they do to her when they found out that she was not really from Rivendell? Slowly, she sat up, pulling off Legolas's blanket in the process. Absentmindedly, she folded it and rolled it into a pack, still thinking about her fate. She would have to escape somehow, but the question was how. If she rode Mirime, it would be easy, but where could she go? She did not know her way around Middle-earth, and with the impending War of the Rings, it was no doubt dangerous.  
  
Thoughts of running away on Mirime were quickly dispelled, though, when she discovered the heat characteristic to a sprain in Mirime's leg. She must have injured it during their wild ride the day before.  
  
"Will you be able to ride her?" Legolas's voice once more broke through her thoughts.  
  
"No. She can probably get the rest of the way, but not with a rider," Calime had a hard time keeping the bitter disappointment out of her voice. Now she had no way to escape, and would surely be punished when she got to Rivendell.  
  
"Then you will have to ride with me today. It is not far. We should be there shortly after dusk if we go quickly," Legolas said, choosing to ignore the bitterness in her voice.  
  
"Well, what are we waiting for? Onward!" (A/N: Can y'all tell that I like that word?)  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* The day wore on at a seemingly endless trot, crossing identical fields, a short mountain pass, and more endless woods. Calime wondered how Legolas's chest, which her small body was nestled into comfortably, could be so firm yet soft at the same time. 'Oh, Lord, I am turning into one of those boy- crazy girls at school. Stop it, Sunni, he's a prince! And he's fictional!' Calime thought to herself. 'Oh great, now I'm talking to myself! AHHH!' "There it is, little elf, Rivendell. You are home," Legolas said. Calime broke out of her trance, craning her neck to see her first sight of Rivendell. Further up the path, she saw a silver-white gate, surrounded by woods that seemed to glow. It was a magical sight, ethereal, yet amazingly real at the same time.  
  
"Rivendell," she whispered to herself. "Home."  
  
Well, what do you think? Please review! I didn't get any for my last chapter!!!! As always, flames will be used for my random pyrotechnic fantasies after I laugh at them. Love letters and suggestions, along with CONSTRUCTIVE criticism are greatly appreciated as the help me become a better writer. Thanks!  
  
A/N: Today is my birthday, yay! So, in the tradition of Hobbits, this is my present to you! 


	6. Rivendell

Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings or any of the affiliated  
  
corporations and merchandise. Except Legolas. He is all mine.  
  
A/N: I am updating as much as I can. Thanks to the foot of snow and sub- zero temperatures, there is nothing else for me to do except write strange stories and get over excited when I FINALLY get some reviews (hint, hint)  
  
Once again, ON WITH THE FREAK SHOW!!!  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Chapter 6: Confessions  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
The four companions rode up to the gates of Rivendell. Calime was  
  
speechless at the simple, ethereal beauty of the Elven city. Gandalf said  
  
something in Elvish, which Calime couldn't hear from the distance, despite  
  
her Elf hearing. The gates opened and the horses trotted through. Calime's  
  
neck craned as she strained to see everything. Gandalf's horse trotted  
  
through one last gate, and Legolas and Calime followed. They came to a  
  
stone terrace, surrounded by paths and trees. Legolas dismounted, and then  
  
turned back to hold Meriasyl's reins as Calime jumped down. (A/N: The horse  
  
Legolas was riding is named Meriasyl, because I am bored and this is my  
  
story.)  
  
"It is about time you came, Gandalf," a voice said, coming from nowhere.  
  
A tall elf with long dark hair and a silver circlet around his head,  
  
accompanied by a young looking elf-maiden suddenly materialized from one of  
  
the paths.  
  
"Elrond! Have they arrived yet?" Gandalf's booming voice seemed quiet for  
  
once as he asked the question that was clearly on the minds of Legolas,  
  
Gimli and himself. Calime looked around as Elrond answered, accidentally  
  
catching the elf-maiden's eye in the process. The elf raised one eyebrow  
  
inquisitively. Calime felt a flood of terror flow through her, from her  
  
head to her toes. Discreetly, from her position behind Legolas, she raised  
  
one finger to her lips, praying that the elf would not say anything. The  
  
elf-maiden gave an almost imperceptible nod. She's not going to tell!  
  
Calime thought jubilantly. Was it possible that she would be safe here?  
  
A/N: Sorry this is so short. The next one will be longer, I promise!!  
  
Reviewers:  
  
Red Queen4: Thank you very much for your review. Believe me, it made me laugh in the middle of a very crappy day. I have been writing this story since July; I have only now begun to post it.  
  
ElvenStar5: Thanks for your review! I'm glad you like it! I will definitely keep your (romance) suggestions in mind. I have actually decided how to end it, but y'all will have to wait 'til the end!  
  
Snow Princess 13: Hey, Lo! I'm glad you like, hun! Here's the next chapter, more coming soon!  
  
A note about Sunni: she has many faults, and that will come into play soon. However, part of this story's appeal (to me) is that it is fantasy. It isn't real, and she is an elf, so she is a bit MORE than normal, for lack of better word.  
  
Oh, and one last note to anyone who wants me to be and write just like them: many people have tried being rough to make me be like them, physically and mentally, and I don't let them. My spirit and uniqueness are very important to me, and I don't answer to anyone. I know this story isn't very unique, but I like it. I hope you can all respect that and hope you choose to keep reading and reviewing. Thanks! 


	7. Confessions

Disclaimer: Yeah, I really look like a dead English/South African guy. JK. I don't own Lord of the Rings. If I did, I would be rich, famous, and I would not live in Wisconsin.  
  
A/N: I don't have much to say (for a change) except that the next two or three chapters will be a bit boring, in terms of action, but there will be a lot of key info revealed. Her friendship with Arwen will develop over time and become very important later on. Please keep reading and reviewing! A/N: Okay, okay, this IS only PARTLY Mary-Sue! Some of the things are based in my life, but a lot has been altered!  
  
Also, does ANYONE know how I can fix the line spacing on here? I can't for the life of me figure it out!!! Also, the things I had italicized on the document weren't transferred when I uploaded it! Help, anyone?  
  
Also, I would like to thank my loyal friend and story editor, Natya, for her help in beating down writers block and endless supply of Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares CDs, which for some strange reason inspire me to write. Thank you!  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Chapter 7: Confessions  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Elrond was still talking to Gandalf and the others when the elf-maiden motioned for Calime to follow. After looking back one more time at Mirime, she trailed after the graceful woman.  
  
"I am Arwen," the elf said in Elvish. "You are not from Rivendell, which is what you told your companions. Where are you really from?"  
  
"You're not going to tell them, are you? Did your father notice? Will he tell them?" Calime dodged her question carefully.  
  
"My father is preoccupied. I will not tell them if you answer my question, and if you are not a threat to the people of Rivendell," she said. Calime had to admit that this Arwen was good. She took a deep breath.  
  
"I am from a land very far away. When I p-said something, I felt like I was falling and I landed in Mirkwood," she said. Technically, what she had said was true. She had read the inside of the ring, but it wasn't until she put it on that she had come to Middle-earth. Calime just didn't want to say anything about the ring just yet, because as much as she missed her family and wanted to go home, she wasn't ready to go yet. She wanted to see what would happen. She wanted to help.  
  
"Are you a spy?" Calime stopped, and a few paces beyond, Arwen stopped too, and turned to her. Calime looked her straight in the eye.  
  
"No, I am not a spy." Arwen nodded, and her eyes held the trusting look of a person who believed.  
  
"Come, then. I will find you something to wear."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Arwen showed Calime a small, cozy room. Large glass-less windows facing woods covered one wall, and a table and bed made up the sparse furnishings. Arwen left and returned a few minutes later with several dresses over her arm.  
  
"These should fit you," she said, laying them over the table. They were all of the same graceful, elegant, un-structured design, in several colors: emerald, amethyst, red, and a beautiful pale aqua. Calime ran her hand along that one. It felt like a mixture of silk and velvet, and the hem and sleeves were covered in silver embroidery, as was the collar.  
  
"I will leave you to change, and wash. There is water and soap through that door," she said, pointing to a door in the corner that Calime hadn't noticed before. "When you are finished, meet me outside."  
  
Calime crossed the room and opened the door. Inside the small room were a basin and a pitcher of water. A mirror hung over the stand and more open windows covered the wall.  
  
Calime splashed some water on her face and then scrubbed her hands and arms free of the travel dust. Examining herself, she brushed the worst tangles from her hair and re-braided it.  
  
As Calime walked back to the other room, she pulled off her cloak, belt and tunic. She pulled on the aqua dress, marveling at the soft material after the roughness of her other clothes. After pulling off her boots and breeches, she tucked her sword into the braided belt. Rivendell was probably safe, but the orc attack had made her wary. Looking around, she saw no shoes, so she decided to go barefoot. Taking a deep breath in preparation for whatever awaited her, she pushed open the door and went to meet Arwen.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
When she stepped from her room, she was greeted with the sight of Legolas instead of Arwen. She walked to him.  
  
"Where is Arwen?"  
  
"She had to leave. A bad feeling, I believe, about the hobbits and Strider," Legolas replied, turning and motioning for Calime to follow him.  
  
"Strider? You mean Aragorn?" she asked, images flashing through her head. If Arwen had left today, Weathertop would happen in two days. Oh, no, she thought. This is not going to be good. Legolas stopped abruptly, grabbing her arm.  
  
"How do you know about Aragorn?" Calime wriggled from his grip.  
  
"I know many things about many subjects, including the One Ring and Sauron."  
  
"What? How?"  
  
"Where I come from, see, these things are common knowledge. Many people know of the One Ring. And I know how the quest to destroy the ring will end."  
  
"Where you are from? You said you were from Rivendell!"  
  
Oh, bad Sunni! That was not smooth. Calime mentally punched herself.  
  
"I lied."  
  
"That much is obvious. Why, though? Are you a spy? Because if you are, you may as well say so now and get the punishment over with."  
  
"Why are you suddenly so eager to hurt me?"  
  
"Why did you lie to us? What reason do you have to lie?" "Because you never would have believed me!" she countered.  
  
"How do you know that?"  
  
"Because it sounds unbelievable, even to me!"  
  
Legolas was silent, and Calime suddenly realized why. Looking around her, she saw that they had reached a large, open hall. A dozen or so elves, dwarves and men stood around. Elrond and Gandalf, who were seated a bit apart from the others and had clearly been talking quietly, stood up. Every person in the room turned and stared at Legolas and Calime. It suddenly dawned on her that they had been yelling.  
  
Elrond regained his composure, and turned to the others in the hall.  
  
"If you could please sit, I will return shortly." With that, he motioned for Legolas and Calime to follow him. Gandalf gave Calime a wise look, then turned and followed Elrond.  
  
The others in the hall had been silent through then. Now, however, there was an eruption of whispers in several different languages as they sat.  
  
Calime felt the same dread she had felt the time she had been sent to the principal's office for yelling at a teacher. It was a mixture of dread, indifference, indignation and, strangely, pride. She even felt a bit of relief at no longer having to carry the secret. Is there any way I can escape? No, there were too many people. Any escape without a horse would be futile, and she had no idea where Mirime was. Calime sighed in resignation, and Legolas gave her a piercing look. Without thinking, she stuck her tongue out at him. He snorted and hurried after Elrond.  
  
Elrond led them through a maze of buildings and trees and stopped in a small room. Like the others Calime had seen, it was open, and the wrought iron structure reminded her strongly of a gazebo.  
  
Elrond motioned for them to sit. Calime remained standing, and he sighed and nodded.  
  
"Why don't you start with the truth?" he suggested in Elvish.  
  
"Why should I tell you anything? Who says you'll believe me?" she shot back in the same language.  
  
"If you tell the truth, I will believe you."  
  
Calime glanced at Legolas, who gave her a small nod and at Gandalf, who winked. She took a deep breath.  
  
"My real name is Leah Hudson, but I am called Sunni, like the sun," she began, glancing out at the forest. She began to pace the small room. "I come from a land very far away, America, the land of the free." She snorted at the name that she didn't think was very true. "I am not sure how I got here. I was holding a ring, and when I put it on, I began to fall. I landed in Mirkwood. I think I hit my head when I landed, because I didn't wake up until some elf decided to use me as target practice. Then, knowing that there was a very slim chance that they would believe me, and I did not know where I was going, I lied. I said I was a messenger from Rivendell, and they agreed to let me come with them. And now I am here."  
  
They simply stared at her in a state of shock and disbelief.  
  
"I am not a spy," she added.  
  
"May I see that ring, please, Calime?" Gandalf asked. Calime stopped pacing and turned to him.  
  
"I will give it back," he added. She nodded and crossed the room. She extended her left hand. On her middle finger, the thin silver band glimmered. Gandalf inspected it closely, and then turned to Elrond.  
  
"It is not an evil ring. Whoever made it did not have harm in mind."  
  
"Does this mean I can stay? I want to help in the War of the Ring," Calime interrupted. Elrond and Gandalf exchanged another look. Then Elrond nodded.  
  
"You may stay."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
A/N: That was a long one! I think I need to go find a bucket of ice water to stick my head in!  
  
Red Queen4: I'm sorry, but I find humor in your feeble attempts to make me be like you. I am sorry if that offends you. Anyway, I am not sure I want your help, seeing as you a) can't spell very well and b) have never posted anything on here. How do I know you can write worth a damn if you don't put yourself on the chopping block?  
  
Eamane-elf: Thanks for your reviews!! It seems almost everyone I asked wants to keep Aragorn and Arwen together. I hadn't thought of putting Haldir and Calime together, although I do have some plans for the two of them later on. All the Haldir fans out there might not like it, though. 


	8. Arwen Returns

Disclaimer: Unfortunately (for me), I still do not own Leg- I mean, Lord of the Rings.  
  
A/N: Does anyone know where I can get some translations for my story? I am having a really hard time trying to find a place that has a translator.  
  
Also, because some people, mainly my friends not on this site, have questioned why she would like having pointy ears: that will be apparent in one of the coming chapters. ;)  
  
Well, I guess it's on with the freak parade!  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Chapter 8: Arwen Returns *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Calime fell into a sort of routine over the next two days. She woke early, visited Mirime and checked on her leg, then ate breakfast. She went to the archery range with Legolas, and learned fighting from him and Gimli. She had become fast friends with Gimli after her secret had become common knowledge. Legolas, on the other hand, was friendly enough, but there was a frustrating distance between them that prevented a true friendship from forming. It was irritating, because Calime wanted to be friends. It was probably one of her greatest faults: she wanted everyone to like her and be her friend, but that didn't always happen, and that often resulted in Calime having very low self esteem.  
  
Legolas and Calime were on the archery range early one morning, about three days after Arwen's departure. They shot arrow after arrow, silently challenging each other to do better. They usually didn't speak except to warn the other that they were going to fetch their arrows from the targets. Today, though, Calime was determined to break his endless, annoying silence. She asked him questions about archery, Mirkwood, and the tales of the elves, all subjects that she knew little about. He finally seemed to relent, telling her stories of elves. He seemed to focus on the second age, when the One Ring had left the power of Sauron. He told her fantastic tales of battles, kings and the feuds between elves and dwarves.  
  
Abruptly, he stopped, suddenly dead silent. Calime opened her mouth to speak, but he motioned for her to be quiet. Then she heard it too. The sound of hoof beats was approaching the gate, and someone was yelling for Elrond. Calime and Legolas grabbed the last of their arrows and started for the entrance to Rivendell. They quickly reached the clearing, where they were greeted by the sight of about six elves, including Elrond, standing around a horse. Arwen sat atop it, a bundle situated between her arms. Arwen was speaking quickly in Elvish. She dismounted and lifted Frodo from the saddle.  
  
"I found them at Weathertop, ambushed by orcs. A sword stabbed him, and it's poisoning him. He needs your healing."  
  
Elrond nodded, taking the hobbit in his arms.  
  
"The others?"  
  
"I left them there. I said I would send horses."  
  
Elrond nodded and spoke quickly, too quickly for Calime to translate.  
  
"Calime!" he called, spotting her in the crowd. She approached him quickly.  
  
"Do you think you can find your way to Weathertop?" he asked. Calime nodded. "Good. Go to the stable, and get two horses, and your Mirime. She is well enough to make it there and back if you do not ride full out. Can you do that?"  
  
Calime nodded again, and started for the stable.  
  
"Oh, and Calime. Make sure you take a weapon." Calime turned and ran for the stable as Elrond hurried for the healing room.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Calime raced to the stable. The elves there looked up as she greeted them.  
  
"I need two horses, and Mirime. Orders from Lord Elrond," she said. The head elf nodded and pointed out two horses, a bay and a chestnut.  
  
"Those two, Otona and Niliqueye. They have saddles and such in the feed room, when you are ready to leave." Calime quickly thanked the elf and raced to the room that she had been staying in. Hastily, she changed into her traveling clothes, pulled on her cloak, re-strapped her quiver and bow to her back and slipped her sword into her belt. She quickly re-braided her hair and hurried to the stable, where Legolas was waiting for her. Her heart jumped a bit at the sight of the handsome elf, but although he smiled, his eyes held the same cool distance that had been there since she had revealed her secret.  
  
Legolas had already saddled and bridled Otona and was starting on Niliqueye. Calime pulled her saddle and bridle from a rack and prepared Mir for the journey. AS she finished, Legolas handed her a pack.  
  
"Some lembas and some light."  
  
"Light?"  
  
"It will help you to make a fire quickly if the need arises."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
He nodded curtly as she strapped the pack to her saddle, along with the rolled blanket he had also brought.  
  
"Here, take these, too," he said as she finished. He handed her ten arrows. She gave him a quizzical look. "They have poisoned tips. They will kill an orc with one shot." Then he handed her two knives, which she stuck into the sheath on her quiver.  
  
They headed outside, where he gave her a leg up onto Mir's back.  
  
"There are also directions inside that pack, should you need them." Calime bit her lip, but didn't say anything. With any luck, they would be in Elvish.  
  
"Thank you." She started to nudge Mir forward when his hand on hers stopped her.  
  
"Ride quickly, Calime, and be watchful. Arwen says there are black riders out here, as well as many orcs. Keep your eyes open and your weapon at hand."  
  
She nodded solemnly and nudged Mir. The tall horse broke into a canter, and as she whistled, the other horses followed as they rode out of the gate and into the unknown.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
A/N: Sorry, that wasn't as long as I hoped it would be. I will update as soon as I have time, though! Please review on your way out!  
  
Reviewers:  
  
Red Queen4: I apologize. I am a bit dyslexic, and I didn't read your review carefully enough. Sorry. I like to put notes to my reviewers, because I like to get them myself. I do recognize sarcasm, but I'm surprised that you didn't recognize it in my "that made me laugh.." comment. If I make other mistakes or assumptions, correct me, as I do not always understand: English is not my original language and I am slightly dyslexic.  
  
ElvenStar5: Don't worry; I'm not going to kill Haldir!!! I have a scene in mind that might offend some Haldir fans, but that's still in the works! And remember, when that scene appears, that appearances can be deceiving! Thanks for your review!  
  
Lady Knight: Thanks for your review! I love Legomances myself; that's why I write them! I want a ring, too!! 


	9. Wanted: One Disguised King and Three Hob...

Disclaimer: I don't own LotR or any affiliated merchandise. ::Wink:: (Yet! ;))  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Chapter 9: Wanted: One disguised king and three hobbits *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Calime rode west for a day, hoping she was going in the right direction. She was trying to ride as fast as she could without potentially missing them. Strider was a ranger, not the type to stay in one place when danger was lurking. No doubt he would start walking toward Rivendell instead of waiting for the horses to come.  
  
Calime had been cantering for several hours when the horses began to tire. She slowed them to a trot, then a walk, and, spotting a stream in the distance, turned them that way. She hopped down as the horses began to drink and knelt by the river, scooping the cold water to her lips. The icy coolness soothed her parched body.  
  
Mir had finished drinking and was cropping some grass a ways away. Calime checked her leg; it was cool, with no sign of the sprain.  
  
"That's my sweetie-girl, Mirime, isn't it?" She walked back to the river, checking Otona and Niliqueye's legs. They were cool, too. She stooped to get more water, but her hand hit something metal under the water. She lifted out a piece of black metal with a torn scrap of black cloth attached.  
  
"Black riders," she breathed, barely more than a whisper. She backed away from the river and whistled. The horses lifted their heads and trotted over. As they neared, her ears caught a sound not far away. Turning, she saw a band of about 10 orcs emerge from the forest. Her hand flew to her waist, but her sword wasn't there. Frantically looking around, she saw it, with her quiver and bow, attached to Niliqueye's saddle, where she had tied them. At the time, she had thought that she would be able to reach them in an emergency, but the horses had heard the orcs, too, and had fled. Calime only had the knives Legolas had given her, and she didn't intend to get close enough to those orcs to use them.  
  
I'm stranded! Those orcs are about to see me, and I have no weapon. How stupid are you going to get, girl? She mentally screamed at herself. Don't you ever listen to anything people tell you?  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
A/N: Heeheehee, shall I leave it there, or shall I continue? Hmm, I do like cliffhangers, but this is an awfully short chapter. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Okay, you win. Here's the end. Y'all better love me for this!  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Calime thought quickly. 'Can I throw the knives? No, I can't throw to save my life. Oh, MY GOD! This is for my life.' Looking around, the only things she saw were rocks. 'Should I? That's a stupid question. What choice do I have?' She ducked behind the biggest rock and began gathering smaller rocks in her arms. The rock she hid behind wasn't big enough to hide her completely, and an orc quickly spotted her. He turned to his companions, and Calime took aim...  
  
---------------------~~*~~*~~Flashback~~*~~*~~-----------------------------  
  
"Come on, Sun. It's not as hard as you make it seem. You can throw those balls in Rhythmic gymnastics, so why is this any different?" Evan encouraged her. Alex shot him a look that said 'Not helping, Ev.' He turned to his seven-year-old sister and placed the ball back in her hand.  
  
"See, you just pull your arm back and let go, here," he encouraged. "It's not so hard."  
  
"Maybe not for you, but it is for me. Just like everyone else can read, everyone else can throw. Maybe I'm just different."  
  
"If you really try, you can," Evan said.  
  
"I am trying!"  
  
-------------------~~*~~*~~End flashback~~*~~*~~---------------------------  
  
She aimed and... missed by a foot. She was discouraged, but she thought, 'you are not going to die. Maybe Sunni couldn't throw, but you aren't Sunni  
  
anymore. You are Calime, and you can do this, because if you don't, you are  
  
going to die.' Renewed, she threw again, and hit the orc in the head, nearly  
  
taking off his ear. He yelled, and his fellow travelers turned to him.  
  
Seeing him holding his head, they turned, almost as one body, to where she  
  
hid. She took aim again, this time for the river. The rock hit the water  
  
and made a splash, sending ripples flowing out around it. The orcs turned  
  
that way, and, seizing the opportunity, Calime ran for the forest. She  
  
ducked between trees as they realized that she had left. She heard the  
  
crashing of tree limbs and what she would have sworn was orc swearing,  
  
catching up to her. Seeing no other option, she put her fingers between her  
  
lips and whistled as loudly as she could. For a moment, she heard nothing  
  
but the pounding of her heart and the orcs trailing not far behind. She whistled  
  
again, and this time she felt her heart rise. Mirime cantered between the  
  
trees, heading for her. Running a bit faster toward her horse, she jumped  
  
from a fell tree and onto the saddle. She grabbed a handful of mane and the  
  
horse turned and fled at a gallop that would put a racehorse to shame.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
A/N: Yay, another chapter done! YAY YAY! Whoa, gotta lay off the coffee beans. ;)  
  
I THINK I finally figured out the spacing on this thing! YAY! Please review!!  
  
Red Queen4: Thanks for reading, reviewing and apologizing, especially since I wasn't very nice. I hope you keep reading!!  
  
Feanen: Thanks for the review! I hope you keep reading and reviewing!  
  
Ariaste: I love the word 'onward'! It just works well in this story! Indeedy is a cool word, too. Thanks for your review! 


	10. Hobbits at Last

Disclaimer: I STILL don't own any thing having ANYTHING to do with LotR,  
  
except my DVDs. ;)  
  
I know I have been posting a lot lately, (smile) but a lot of things aren't very good right now: my best friend Danny is really sick, my dad is really sick and a cousin and friend of mine committed suicide two days ago, and writing is my release. So enjoy yet another chapter!  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Chapter 10: Hobbits at last! *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Calime found the other horses grazing peacefully in a clearing. She  
  
chided them softly, but they followed her readily. They continued in the  
  
direction she hoped was west. She was on her second day of travel, and dusk  
  
was falling when she saw four figures in the distance, one normally sized  
  
and three miniatures, heading toward her. She urged the horses into a  
  
gallop. About 5 yards from the startled travelers, she pulled the horses up  
  
and flew down from the saddle. The tall man she assumed to be Strider put  
  
his hand to his sword as Calime overzealously embraced the three little  
  
hobbits. (Haven't you always wanted to do that? They are so cute!)  
  
"You have NO idea how happy I am to find you!"  
  
"Who are you, stranger?" the ranger asked.  
  
"Oh, sorry. I am from Rivendell. I came to find you after Arwen came back  
  
with only Frodo. I have been traveling since yesterday, and I was starting  
  
to think that I had passed you by," she said. Strider's hand left his  
  
sword. Pippin was giving her a strange look, one eyebrow cocked, looking  
  
like a newly pubescent boy at a school dance. She raised one eyebrow and  
  
smiled. He looked away, blushing.  
  
"Is Frodo okay?" the hobbit she figured to be Sam asked. Strider looked sharply at her. Calime hesitated.  
  
"I do not know, Sam. I left as soon as Arwen returned. I didn't stay long enough to see if Frodo was alright," she finally answered. Seeing the hobbits' crestfallen expressions, she knelt to their level and added "But he is in the hands of Lord Elrond of Rivendell, and Lord Elrond is the best healer in these lands."  
  
The hobbits' expressions brightened noticeably, and she straightened and looked to Strider.  
  
"We had best hurry, though. I ran into a band of orcs not far from here,  
  
and I don't know how many more are around." Strider nodded, and looked to  
  
the horses, calmly standing, looking tired. Strider held Niliqueye's reins as she helped Sam and Merry onto her back, and then mounted Otona himself. Calime picked up Pippin and put him on Mir, then swung up behind him. They nudged the horses into a trot and headed for Rivendell. After they had gone a few miles, Calime was suddenly aware of a burning in her throat. Water, Calime need water. As if he had read her mind, Strider turned and tossed a leather bag filled with water. She smiled gratefully and drank thirstily. She was careful not to take too much until Strider called over his shoulder, "Go ahead and finish it. What is your name?" "Calime."  
  
"Finish it. There is a river not far, and we can fill it there." Calime drank again, and then offered the rest to Pippin, who gladly accepted it. She looked around, at the tall trees that seemed to almost be whispering to each other, and at the three voyagers before her, and the curly head resting softly against her chest, the suppleness of Mir's taut muscles moving smoothly beneath her. Despite all the beautiful things around her, she still kept a watchful eye turned for any sign of orcs. The attack at the river had taught her to be ever vigilant, and she kept her sword close to her left hand. Onward!  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Lil Eimeim: Thanks for your review! I am glad you like it!  
  
Feanen: Yeah, it is a bit short, but I am SUPER busy and a bit of the evil writer's block is setting in. Please keep reading!  
  
Innocent Princess: Thanks for your help and review! I'll try to use it in the next chapter! Hope you keep reading!  
  
A/N: Yikes, these are a lot shorter typed than they look written out. I will try to make them longer! Please review on your way out! ;) Sunni 


	11. The Council of Elrond

Disclaimer: I don't own Lord of the Rings. Except Legolas. ;)  
  
Warning: Starting with the next chapter, things are probably going to become slightly angst-y, at least when she goes home. Just a friendly warning.  
  
Two chapters in one day, aren't you guys lucky!?  
  
A/N: I have decided to skip the part where Frodo wakes up, because it seems weird that Calime is everywhere. Plus, that's a close moment, and Calime has never met Frodo, so I cut it. There is a reference to it, though. Enjoy the Freak Parade!  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Chapter 11: The Council of Elrond *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Five days after their return to Rivendell, Frodo awoke, much to the delight of Sam, Bilbo, Merry and Pippin. The next day, Calime was called to the Secret Council of Elrond. She walked with the still silent Legolas to the same hall where she had inadvertently given away her secret. About twenty chairs were gathered in a semi-circle. Several elves were gathered at one end, speaking softly in their language. Men gathered in another corner, and a loud bunch of dwarves were sitting in several of the chairs. Gandalf and Frodo sat silently in the last two chairs. Legolas joined the other elves, so Calime sat next to Gandalf.  
  
"Why am I here?" she asked him.  
  
"You are here because Elrond summoned you."  
  
"Well, I know that. But this council is about Frodo and the Ring, a fact I am almost positive about. What have I got to do with that?"  
  
"Lord Elrond believes that you may be of some help to our quest, so you were summoned." That didn't really answer any of Calime's questions, but just then Elrond appeared and motioned for them all to sit. Legolas sat in the chair next to her, and she couldn't badger Gandalf with questions anymore.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* A/N: LOL, I don't know what Elrond says at the Council of Elrond, and I'm too tired to write it all down, anyway, so I'll skip right to the end.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Calime watched in silent amusement as elves and dwarves leaped to their feet, spewing insults. Legolas had both arms up, trying to hold back the infuriated elves. Frodo was sitting in his chair, the only other one sitting. After a minute had passed, he lifted his hand to his head, and then stood.  
  
"I will take it!" he said. The others did not hear him. He said it louder, and every person in the hall turned to look at him. "I will take the ring to Mordor, although I do not know the way."  
  
Aragorn stepped forward, and knelt before the hobbit.  
  
"If by my life or death I can protect you, I will. You have my sword."  
  
"And my axe," Gimli said.  
  
"And my bow," Legolas said. Heck no, I am not getting left out of this, Calime thought to herself. She leaped to her feet.  
  
"And you have my sword, as well," she said. Elves and dwarves, finally agreeing on something, gave her incredulous looks. Elrond nodded.  
  
"You carry the fates of us all, little one," Boromir said. "If this is indeed the will of the council, Gondor will see it done."  
  
Sam jumped out of a nearby bush, startling the members of the council.  
  
"Mr. Frodo's not goin' anywhere without me!" he cried.  
  
"Indeed, it seems impossible to separate the pair of you, even when he is summoned to a secret council and you are not," Elrond said, smiling. Pippin and Merry came running from behind a pillar.  
  
"Oi! We're coming too!" Merry cried. "You'll have to send us home in a sack to stop us!"  
  
"Anyway, you need people of intelligence on this sort of mission. Quest. Thing," Pippin added.  
  
"Well, that rules you out, Pip," Merry muttered.  
  
"So be it. Ten here, to outnumber the nine ring wraiths. You are the Fellowship of the Ring." *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* "Are you in your right mind, Calime? You will be killed!" Legolas tried to dissuade her later that day, at the archery fields.  
  
"Oh, now you speak to me. You're just scared, 'cause you know I can kick your ass," she muttered under her breath. She looked up at his soft chuckle. 'Damn elves and their hearing' she thought, in her head this time.  
  
"Oh, come on Legolas. You have seen me fight, against those orcs, and you have been training me. I can take care of myself!" she protested. "Why is it you don't speak to me for days, and then the first things you speak are protests? I may not be the best, but I can hold my own."  
  
"You are a woman, that is why you shouldn't go!"  
  
"Oh, Lord, that argument again. Why is it so different if a man goes off to battle? If he's killed, he died a hero. If it is a woman, it is because she is weak, or delicate. Well, newsflash, I am neither weak nor delicate. Elrond thinks I am capable, and so does Strider. Strider! He has known me for days, and he trusts me, having never seen me fight. Yet you have seen me, and you do not!"  
  
Legolas could see that he was defeated. Calime could see this, too, and she gathered the last of her arrows and left for her room as darkness fell over the beautiful land that was Rivendell.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Late that same night, Calime slipped from her bed and out of the open window. She stood on a stone terrace and listened to the wind whispering through the trees, and the silence of a type that never descended on California. Standing in her loose sleeping gown, she held her left hand in front of her face. Slowly, her right hand traveled to her left, and she ran her finger over the smooth silver of the ring. Carefully, lingeringly, she slipped the ring from her finger.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
To be continued... A/N: Hehehe, can you all say really boring chapter? And cliffhanger? Heeheehee. What's going to happen? I think y'all can probably answer that one, right? REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! 


	12. The Saddest Day

Disclaimer: I STILL don't own LotR, but I have a plan of action set out. Now I just need the means to do it with...  
  
A/N: Beware, this is a VERY strange chapter, but it is necessary, to me, to get a lot of my feelings about my own father out. Not that I want anything to happen to him, but I know that he doesn't have much time left before he leaves this earth, and I really need to have this story relate to that. Argh, can you say run-on sentence?  
  
I replaced chapters 1-9, revised and SPACED, because it is Valentine's Day and I'm all alone and lonely. ;)  
  
COME ON Y'ALL, WHERE ARE THE REVIEWS??????????? REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!!!!!!  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Chapter 12: Going Home: The Saddest Day  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Calime felt herself hurtling through the air, and suddenly she was sitting on her bed again, the Tolkien dictionary open on the floor by her feet, the silver ring clasped tightly in her hand. She slowly opened her hand and peered at the silver ring. It looked so ordinary, so plain. How could it hold so much power, so much energy?  
  
A piercing scream punctuated her thoughts. Dropping the ring, she rushed to the door, and threw it open. She ran down the stairs, and into the living room. The sight there stopped her dead in her tracks. Her mother stood hunched over, her arms wrapped around herself, as if she was freezing, though it was 80 degrees in the room. Her brothers stood, looking  
  
shell-shocked, and Maja, her twin, was sobbing unrestrainedly, curled in a ball on the floor. The baby of the family, five-year-old Hope, sweet Hope who lived in a silent world, was looking around her, clearly confused. The phone lay on the floor, as if someone had dropped it in a hurry, and horrific images filled the muted television screen. Sunni focused on them: a headline proclaimed "Bomb Kills at U.S. Embassy in Riyadh." Riyadh, Saudi  
  
Arabia. Where her father worked. Stunned, she turned to her brothers, who shook their heads as though they were one being. Her gaze traveled to the photos that hung on the wall. One stood out. It was her family, proudly standing around the new barn, after a long month of building. Her brothers and sisters stood around. In the middle, her mother, radiant with joy, stood with her arm around a tall, lean man. He had curly brown hair and chocolate brown eyes, and he smiled, not looking at the camera, but at his wife and children, so proud, so happy. Her father.  
  
"Papa is dead." *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Amazing grace,  
  
How sweet the sound,  
  
That saved a wretch like me.  
  
I once was lost,  
  
But now am found  
  
Was blind,  
  
But now I see.  
  
'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear  
  
And grace my fears relieved.  
  
How precious did that grace appear  
  
The hour I first believed.  
  
Through many dangers, toils and snares,  
  
I have already come.  
  
'Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,  
  
And grace will lead me home."  
  
Sunni had always loved the song Amazing Grace. Now she would never be able to listen to it without crying again. She sat in a state of shock, her  
  
fingers tightly laced with Hope's on her left and Adam's on her right. Her mother sat stoically at the end of the pew, staring straight ahead, her lips moving silently along with the Lutheran prayer now being said. Sunni glanced around at the packed church. Her father had many friends: somber men and women from work, dressed in suits; relatives, not a dry-eyed one in  
  
that bunch; her mother's mother and three sisters, all the way from Thailand; Bobby, her dad's best friend, with his wife Lucy and their two sons; more of his friends, from church and college, hockey and the horse world, the stable hands and stable managers, many of the students at Wind Dancer Farm, Sunni's best friend Aimee, and some of her brother's and sister's friends. He had touched everyone in the church in some way. Jack Hudson had been a sweet man, with a friendly smile and kind word for everyone he met, a man who always had good advice, and a fierce passion to do the right thing.  
  
Sunni couldn't stand it anymore; being in the crowded church made her claustrophobic. She stood up and, brushing past legs, pushed her way out of  
  
the sanctuary and into the cool air of a California evening. The sun had retreated into its fiery resting place, waiting to come out and grace the morning with its presence. Her shoulders shook with tearless sobs. She took  
  
a deep breath, trying to steady herself. She wouldn't allow herself to cry.  
  
Crying wouldn't bring Papa home. It wouldn't solve anything.  
  
Sunni reached into her pocket and pulled out an Altoids tin. She opened it carefully. Inside, nestled among the mints was a small strip of metal: a  
  
razor blade. Turning away from the church doors, she pulled it out and rolled up her sleeve. She groaned with relief as the blade cut through her soft flesh. Soon, wet, red lines joined the myriad of similar lines, all in  
  
varying shades of pink and white. Some were years old, others days old. When she finally felt numb, felt the tears and sadness retreat, she wiped the blood from the blade and pushed it back among the pristine white mints.  
  
Behind her, the heavy church doors opened, and Maja and Evan appeared. They hurried over to her.  
  
"Sunni," her sister said softly. Evan took her arm and pushed the sleeve  
  
back further. Tears glistened on his eyes, and on Maja's, too.  
  
"Why, Sunni? Why?" Evan asked. Sunni could hear the despair in his voice.  
  
"You wouldn't understand."  
  
"I wouldn't understand? We wouldn't understand? Sun, we just lost our  
  
father, too. Everyone in that room just lost someone very important. Of  
  
course we understand."  
  
"I'm not talking about Papa. I know you guys lost him, too. I'm not  
  
completely selfish."  
  
"Then what are you talking about?"  
  
"What I'm talking about is-it's just that you can cry. You can tell  
  
someone that you're sad, but I can't. I promised Papa when he left that I  
  
would be strong. If anything happened, I had to be strong, because I was  
  
his little elf, a warrior," she explained, her hand traveling to her ears.  
  
(A/N: Her dad was a big Tolkien fan, like mine. That's why she likes her ears so much.)  
  
"Sunni, hon, he didn't mean that you couldn't cry. He would rather have  
  
had you cry than do this to yourself," Maja soothed. At her kind words,  
  
Sunni couldn't help herself. She burst into tears. Two pairs of arms  
  
encircled her, comforting. Their tears mingled together.  
  
"We're triplets, Sunni. We might not always understand, but we can try  
  
to, and we'll ALWAYS be here for each other," Maja's voice broke the  
  
silence. Sunni felt calmer than she had in years. People were beginning to  
  
trickle out of the church, but the three of them didn't break apart until  
  
the last of them had left and their mother came out, surrounded by family.  
  
She smiled at her children, and hugged each of them.  
  
"Come, dakkan," she said, using her term for sweethearts. "Let's go  
  
home." *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Sunni roused herself early the next morning. Glancing at her clock, she  
  
saw that it was 2.30 A.M. She slipped from her bed and, with a last glance  
  
at the sleeping Maja, she took the silver ring from the chain around her  
  
neck and slid it onto her finger.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
A/N: That was a chapter that I really had to put in. Thank you for letting me get that out. ::hugs to anyone who is reading this::  
  
Lil Eimeim: Thanks so much for your review and for reading this! You are awesome!  
  
Feanen: Once again, thanks for your review, and keep reading!  
  
Latanya: Well, here's the next installment with the Fellowship of Ten. Enjoy, and keep reading and reviewing!  
  
Legolas's Bride: Thank you so much for your review! And for your prayers! This chapter really helped, so I hope you liked! Yup, she took off the ring (duh, hello, sun, that's pretty obvious), and she can go between M-E and earth, so she'll have some choices coming up soon. Keep reading and reviewing, please!  
  
Elvinscarf: Thanks for loving my story! I feel so loved! ;) Don't worry, I'll keep updating: I don't want to die! LOL. Please, keep reading and reviewing!  
  
Eamane-elf: Thanks for reviewing! I know what you mean: I love Pippin too! I just had to put in that hug, as I've imagined it many times! Well, keep reading, and I hope you keep reviewing as it brightens up my day! And stop yelling at me!!! I have my reasons for taking off the ring!! Bear with me!! 


	13. The Ring Heads South

Disclaimer: I don't own LotR or any of the affiliated merchandise. I only own Legolas.  
  
Can someone please explain what AU means? I see it everywhere, and I have no idea what it means.  
  
A/N: Due to the fact that I have not seen Fellowship of the Ring and because I have writer's block and a lot of homework, I am going to mess with the plotline and some of the sequence of events. This is DELIBERATE!  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Chapter 13: The Ring Heads South  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
When Calime returned to her room at Rivendell, she saw that someone had already been there. On the small table, her traveling clothes had been laid out, washed. The shirt, tunic, breeches and cloak were all there. There were also two arm guards, boots and socks, and all of her weapons. A sword, bow, quiver of arrows, a knife and two daggers lay in a row. A rolled blanket lay towards the edge of the table, and a water bag rested against it. The pack she had taken on her trip to Weathertop was there too, with the lembas and "light" still inside. She sighed and began to dress, leaving only the arm guards and cloak off. She wouldn't put those on until they left at dusk.  
  
When everything was packed, she sat down on the bed and looked around. She would miss this room, and all of Rivendell. She had made friends with Arwen and several of the other elves. The journey ahead would be grueling, dangerous and long, with no assurance that she would live to tell the tale. Sighing, she stood again and headed out of the room. An early morning run through the beautiful lands of Rivendell would clear her head.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
That evening, just before dusk, Calime returned to her room for the last time. She slung her bow and quiver over her back and tucked the sword into her belt. The daggers went two sheathes on the quiver. She began to put the knife with the daggers, but on second thought tucked it into her boot. Couldn't hurt to have it there, just in case. Onward to my destiny, she thought.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
That evening, the Fellowship left on their mission. They traveled so long that the days began to run together with the nights, until it was just a blur of action and walking, light and dark. Calime's days were so dark, even darker than the nights; for her father had loved the day, and they had always had fun going riding and hiking, watching the clouds and listening to the birds calling back and forth. Now, though, the sun no longer seemed to shine, there were no more clouds, the birds calling seemed to rub her the wrong way. She couldn't eat, and she didn't sleep, instead opting to do gymnastics while keeping watch. It was easy not to be noticed by the others. Elves didn't eat or sleep much, and they were all preoccupied with the eminent danger of orcs, ring wraiths and their coming mission. She was fading into herself, and into the darkness, and it seemed that no one cared.  
  
Not long after they had left Rivendell, they reached a rocky outcropping where they could stay the night. Boromir was teaching Pippin and Merry sword fighting, while Sam, Frodo and Aragorn looked on. Calime smiled slightly as Pippin and Merry tackled Boromir with cries of 'Get him, Merry! For the Shire.' Calime was glad that the hobbits were not too scared. They seemed to think it was a big adventure, all but Frodo. The weight of the Ring was taking its toll on him, that much was obvious, and it would get worse long before it would get better.  
  
Calime couldn't take the cheerful bantering any longer, so she moved to a higher part of the rock. She sank easily into splits and leaned forward so that her stomach touched the ground. She groaned a bit at the pain; she hadn't stretched properly in days. Gimli was talking to Gandalf below her, and Legolas hopped up onto a rock, staring into the distance.  
  
"What is that?" Sam asked, following Legolas' gaze. The others turned to see.  
  
"It's nothing. Just a wisp of cloud," Gimli said.  
  
"It's moving fast, against the wind," Boromir objected.  
  
"Crebain from Dunland!" Legolas exclaimed.  
  
"HIDE!!" Aragorn commanded. Sam threw water on the fire, and the others grabbed their belongings. Calime thought quickly, rolling over her head, and landed on her feet under the rock. Crouching low, she grabbed her weapons and pack and somersaulted under the nearest bush, hitting Legolas in the process. He grabbed her arm and pulled her next to him, out of the sight of the crow-like creatures flying over the camp. As they passed, Gandalf spoke.  
  
"Spies of Saruman. The passage south is being watched. We must take the pass of Caradhras."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
The Fellowship now turned its course, taking a snowy path through the pass of Caradhras. Calime knew this part of the journey was futile, an added danger, but her opinion meant nothing to the others; that much she was sure of. She was here from her own foolish recklessness.  
  
As they traveled up yet another mountain, Calime walked with Legolas, stepping lightly over the snow. Behind them was a commotion, and they turned to see Boromir pick up the ring on its silver chain. Calime couldn't hear, from the distance and the wind, but she was pretty sure that the ring had transfixed him. Aragorn spoke sharply, and Frodo grabbed the ring. Legolas breathed a sigh of relief next to Calime. For some reason, that annoyed her. Everything he did, everything anyone did annoyed her now. She turned and continued walking up the steep incline.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
A few days later, they were trudging up yet another mountain. Boromir and Aragorn each held to two hobbits, preventing them from being blown right off the mountain. Over the force of the wind, she heard someone yelling in a tongue she didn't recognize. Then Gandalf was yelling as well, and more snow blew around her.  
  
"Saruman is trying to bring the mountain down on us!" Gandalf yelled over the wind. There was more yelling and foreign phrases, and Calime was buried under a pile of snow. She flailed helplessly for a moment before a hand grasped her arm and pulled her above the surface.  
  
"We cannot continue this way, Gandalf! We will certainly be killed!" Aragorn called over the howling wind.  
  
"We can go through the mines of Moria! My cousin Balin will give us a royal welcome befit a king!" Gimli offered.  
  
"I would not go through the mines unless I had no other choice. Well, we will be killed if we stay on this mountain. Let the ring bearer decide."  
  
"We will go through the mines!" Frodo decided after a moment of hesitation. Calime groaned. She would rather stay on this mountain forever than go through the death riddled tombs of Moria.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Speak friend and enter. Well, it is simple. If you are a friend, you speak the password and you can enter the mines. But what is the password?" Gandalf appeared to be talking more to himself than any of us.  
  
"Perhaps it is a riddle. What is the Elvish word for friend?" Frodo said.  
  
"Mellon!" Gandalf exclaimed. The huge stone doors creaked open and a long tunnel could be seen. Gandalf set out first, with the rest of the Fellowship following hesitantly. Calime grabbed Pippin's arm as he passed her into the gate.  
  
"Little Pippin. Can you promise me something?" she asked. When he nodded, she continued. "Before you touch ANYTHING, I want you to think very carefully about what could happen, okay?"  
  
He nodded again, although he looked confused, and scared. Then he hurried after the other hobbits, as though he was afraid of her. 'Great,' she thought. 'I scared a hobbit, of all creatures. I must be evil.'  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
A/N: It took me three weeks to write this one, as strange as that sounds, so please be nice and REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!  
  
Legolas's Bride: Thank you for your review and your prayers! That means so much to me! Please keep reading!  
  
Lil Eimeim: You are so awesome, you know that? I'm sorry about your father. It sucks, doesn't it? Thanks for your reviews! Keep reading and reviewing!  
  
Feanen: Thanks, as usual. Keep reading! 


	14. Moria

Disclaimer: I don't own LotR, but I am planning a rather bloody coup that will leave me a very rich woman. (JUST KIDDING!)  
  
In Memoriam:  
  
To my friend Victoria Pendelton, who would be 15 tomorrow, February 18, and who died on September 11, 2001.  
  
And to the victims of the 1979 Marine base bombing in Beirut, Lebanon, 25 years ago today.  
  
Hiro lle hidh ab 'wanath  
  
May you find peace in death.  
  
LOL, y'all are driving me nuts! I am NOT updating until I get AT LEAST 5 reviews!! Well, that, and I have NO time to write!! But REVIEW!!  
  
Once again, I would like to remind you all of two things: I am messing with the movie cannon a LOT, mainly because I have yet to see FotR.  
  
The next few chapters will have large amounts of angst. I think. Just another friendly warning.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Chapter Fourteen: Moria  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
The smell and sight of the dead bodies sprawled and stacked around the large hall was nearly enough to make Calime throw up. She pulled the hood of her cloak lower on her face and covered her mouth with it, blocking out the rotten smell.  
  
"'Tis like a tomb," Gimli said quietly, to no one in particular. Calime could not help but agree with him. She had not seen anything like this since the time she had done a report about the Black Plague and saw pictures of the mass graves. But that book had not conveyed the smell, and that made it worse.  
  
"Orcs," Legolas added, voicing what was on all of their minds. "We should move quickly."  
  
They entered a huge hall, with many arches leading off of it into smaller chambers and corridors. The sheer enormity of it left Calime in a state of awe. She leaned over to Aragorn.  
  
"Why is this so big when dwarves are so small?" Aragorn didn't answer, just smirked and looked away. Pippin and Merry walked on either side of her, and she reached out for their hands. The gesture reassured her as much as it seemed to reassure them.  
  
Gimli gave a cry and ran through an arch. Aragorn called after him, and the rest of the Fellowship followed. Inside, Gimli knelt before a stone coffin.  
  
"Here lies Balin, son of Fundin, Lord of Moria," Gandalf read over Gimli's shoulder. Then he picked up a book and began to read aloud. Calime tuned him out and began to walk carefully around the cobwebbed room, keeping her arrow at hand. Suddenly, a loud crash broke through her trance. 'Pippin, what did I tell you!?' she thought silently. More crashes followed.  
  
"They will find us for sure, now," Aragorn said.  
  
"Fool of a Took! Throw yourself in next time and rid us of your stupidity!" Gandalf thundered. The sounds of running and shouts ensued. Boromir and Aragorn ran to the doors, and Legolas threw axes to them to keep the door shut.  
  
"They have a cave troll," Aragorn said sarcastically. The Fellowship gathered around the door as something very large banged on the other side. Calime readied her bow and arrow and aimed at the blocked entrance. The doors flew open and a heated battle ensued.  
  
Calime lost track of how long she fought. When she was rid of arrows, she pulled out her sword and stabbed at anything that moved. Legolas dodged one swipe by a mere paper's width.  
  
"Frodo!" Sam cried. Calime broke from her trance, and Aragorn moved sharply from where he stood, next to the newly slain cave troll. He approached Frodo and turned him over so that he faced up. The little hobbit groaned and sat up.  
  
"He's alive!" Sam exclaimed, astonished. Frodo carefully unbuttoned the top buttons of his shirt, exposing a fine chain mail, which lay like pewter silk on his chest.  
  
"Mithril!" Gimli said. "You are full of surprises, Master Hobbit!"  
  
Sounds of crashing and unearthly shrieking drew closer.  
  
"To the bridge of Kazad-dum!" Gandalf yelled. They ran through the great halls of Moria. At the end of one huge corridor, was a fiery light.  
"A balrog!" Gandalf shouted. "A demon of the ancient world. A foe beyond any of you. Run, quickly!"  
  
They ran down a flight of stairs. Suddenly, the steps came to an abrupt stop. Legolas caught Boromir right before he fell over the edge to certain death.  
  
"Lead them on, Aragorn. Do as I say! Swords are no more use here!" Legolas jumped the gap first, followed by Gandalf. Boromir jumped, holding Pippin under one arm and Merry under the other. Aragorn tossed Sam, and then Gimli jumped. Legolas caught him by the beard.  
  
"Not the beard!"  
  
"Calime!" Legolas and Aragorn shouted at the same moment. Aragorn reached to toss her, knowing she could not reach the other side by herself. Calime ignored him and took a running start. A few feet from the edge, she twisted herself into a back handspring. For a few breathless seconds, she was suspended over the fiery, unknown depths. Then she landed with mere inches to spare.  
  
Across the ever-widening gap, Frodo and Aragorn were stranded on a lone pillar. Aragorn said something to Frodo that Calime could not hear over the roaring from below. Then the pillar came slamming into their side. Calime caught Frodo as he tumbled down the stairs.  
  
"Over the bridge! Fly!" came Gandalf's order, as he brought up the rear of the pack. The bridge also began to crumble. The dragon-like balrog appeared.  
  
"You can not pass!!"  
  
"Gandalf!" Frodo cried. Boromir held him back as he tried to go after Gandalf.  
  
"The dark flame will not avail you, foe of udun! Go back to the shadow!" Gandalf battled with the balrog, who lashed a blazing whip. The balrog seemed to swoop around, and then crashed into the infernal depths in a rush of fiery tentacles. One of the tentacles wrapped around Gandalf's leg and pulled him over the edge through the gap in the bridge. Gandalf hung to the edge by his arms.  
  
"Fly, you fools!" And then he was gone.  
  
Moments later, the Fellowship burst into the cold mountain air, gasping sharply as they stumbled on the rocky flat. Calime was last, followed only by Aragorn. Pippin and Merry sat together, weeping. Boromir held back Gimli, who struggled fiercly to go back in after Gandalf. Frodo stood off by himself; Sam sat near her, crying into his hand. She knelt and embraced him, letting him sob into her shoulder. She caught sight of Legolas, beautiful Legolas, standing among the others. He had a confused, almost dumbfounded look on his face. 'He's an elf. He's never known death before,' she thought. In her heart, she felt sad for him. Maybe he had all but ignored her since Rivendell, but he had never had to deal with someone dying before. For Calime, the pain and rawness of her own father's death was still so near that she felt no sadder than she had before. She blinked back the tears that had formed in her eyes. She had already cried once, and once was enough.  
  
"Boromir, get them up," Aragorn commanded sharply.  
  
"Give them a moment, for pity's sake!"  
  
"By nightfall, these hills will be swarming with orcs. We must reach the woods of Lothlorien. Pippin! Merry!"  
  
"Come, Sam, there's my lad. We must go," Calime whispered into his ear. He nodded and stood.  
  
"Frodo!" Aragorn called. Frodo turned to face them. A single tear ran down his cheek.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
A/N: Well, there you have it: Chapter 14. It was a bit boring, I think, so I might redo it, but read and REVIEW anyways!'  
  
Lil Eimeim: You are such a sweetie, you know that? Thanks for bearing with me through the boring bits (i.e. NOW!) Thanks for reviewing! ;)  
  
Glorwen: LOL, thanks so much! I bet your story doesn't suck. I'll have to read it! I hope you keep reading!  
  
Feanen: You are a person of very few words, aren't you? LOL. Thanks for the review! Keep reading! ;)  
  
Eamane-elf: Thanks. ;) In response to your question, no, he did not die but he doesn't have a whole lot of time left, so I wanted to start coming to terms with it now. I don't know if it'll work, though. Please keep reading! 


	15. Lothlorien

Disclaimer: WAH!! Anything you recognize is Tolkein's, NOT mine! I only own Calime, Mirime and Jack Hudson. And in all fairness, Jack Hudson belongs to the TV show Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye. So I own. . . Nothing. ;)  
  
A/N: Finally, a LITTLE bit of Calime/ Legolas fluff! Y'all know you love it! Not much, mind you, for a few chapters, but there is enough to (hopefully) satisfy y'all until then!  
  
OK, since I have NO idea how long this story takes, as far as time goes, it will be 9 months (three months for each book) and the time between leaving Lothlorien and Edoras/ Helm's Deep will be one month. ;) Enjoy!  
  
'*___*' means that Lady Galadriel is speaking in her thoughts.  
  
'____' means that Calime is thinking those things, not saying them.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Chapter 15: Lothlorien  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Calime ran for what seemed like days, but was only about 10 hours. Even though she was an athlete, she was no good at cross-country. Still, she easily kept ahead of the hobbits and Gimli, though her lungs were burning and her heart pounding. Then they saw a wood, far in the distance. The trees were large, shaped like the redwoods near her home, but the trunks seemed to be made of silver and the leaves were a magical golden.  
  
When they passed through the first of the trees, they slowed to a walk and fell into their normal "ranks:" Legolas and Calime near at the front, Gimli and Boromir behind them, with the hobbits and Aragorn bringing up the rear. Calime drank in the beautiful surroundings. Everything was green and gold and silver, as magical as Rivendell and as bright as a thousand suns, but a calm sort of light. It seemed so new, like a great new adventure when everything was exciting and enthralling, but Calime couldn't shake the feeling that she had been to this forest before.  
  
"Stay close, young hobbits! They say that a great sorceress lives in these woods. An Elf-witch of terrible power. All who look upon her fall under her spell," Gimli was saying to the hobbits. Calime rolled her eyes. A voice entered her head then, startling her.  
'*Leah Calime Hudson, of a realm that is not on this earth; you will find what you seek here, the things that can heal your soul and mind. All that glitters is not gold, though, and your true calling with announce itself. You must follow it.. .*' Lady Galadriel's haunting voice filled her head, and then it was gone.  
  
'What does it mean? I will find what I am looking for? The only thing I am looking for is a family that trusts me, and lets me deal with my pain my own way, and for my part of this mission to make some sense. Having Legolas speak to me again wouldn't be bad, either,' she mused in her head.  
  
"Well, here's one dwarf she won't ensnare so easily. I have the eyes of a hawk and the ears of a fox," Gimli was still chattering. All of a sudden, elves surrounded them, bows drawn. Legolas and Calime both drew their bows and arrows quickly, aiming at the fair elves.  
  
"The dwarf breathes so loud, we could have shot him in the dark," the head elf said. Calime remembered his name to be Haldir. Gimli flushed, making his face more ruddy. "Mae govannen, Legolas Thranduilion.(Welcome, Legolas, son of Thranduil)"  
  
"Govannas vin gwennen le, Haldir o Lorien," Legolas said. (Our Fellowship stands in your debt, Haldir of Lorien.)  
  
"A Aragorn in Dunedain istannen le amen," Haldir said. (Aragorn of the Dunedain, we know you.)  
  
"Hennaid," Aragorn returned. (Thanks.)  
  
"You bring great evil with you. You can go no further," Haldir said.  
  
"Boe amen veriad lin. Andelu I ven," Aragorn said (We need your protection. The road is very dangerous.) "I wish to come to you. Please understand, we need your support."  
  
Calime, bored with the conversation, pushed back the hood of her cloak and gazed around the woods. Several of the elves in the group looked at her with interest; she was undoubtedly as beautiful as any elf-maiden, but unlike many of them, seemed contentedly unaware of her beauty. Aragorn sent them all a stern look, though, and the elves looked away. Aragorn had become like a second father to Calime, as well as the hobbits.  
  
"You will follow me," Haldir was saying. "Caras Galadhon. The heart of  
  
Elvendom on earth. Realm of the Lord Celeborn and of Galadriel, Lady of Light." The Fellowship followed the elves through an intricate labyrinth to a winding staircase around a huge tree. They entered the Grand Court of Galadriel and Celeborn. Galadriel and Celeborn entered in a pool of bright light.  
  
"The enemy knows that you have entered here. What hope you had in secrecy is now gone. Nine there are here, yet ten there were set out from Rivendell. Tell me, where is Gandalf, for I much desire to speak to him. I can no longer see him from afar," Celeborn said.  
  
"Gandalf the Grey did not pass the borders of this land. He has fallen into Shadow," Galadriel said. Calime shivered, suddenly cold. Her neck and head throbbed, stiff and sore.  
  
"He was taken by both Shadow and Flame; a Balrog of Morgoth. For we went needlessly into the net of Moria," Legolas explained. He glanced curiously at Calime, who was now trembling from a mixture of cold and a strange feeling of nervous anticipation that had overtaken her.  
  
"Needless were none of the deeds of Gandalf in life. We do not yet know his full purpose. Do not let the great emptiness of Khazad-dum fill your heart, Gimli, son of Gloin, for the world has grown full of peril and in all lands love is now mingled with grief," Galadriel said.  
  
"What now becomes of this Fellowship? Without Gandalf, hope is lost," Celeborn said.  
  
"The quest stands on the edge of a knife. Stray but a little and it will fail to the ruin of all. Yet hope remains while the company is true. Go now and rest, for you are weary with sorrow and much toil. Tonight, you will sleep in peace," Galadriel declared.  
  
Lady Galadriel's voice entered Calime's head again.  
  
"*Now but a moment lasts until you find what you seek. Open your eyes and see.*"  
  
Haldir led them to the spiral staircase. As she began the ascent, Calime was overtaken by a wave of dizziness that began between her eyes and traveled out through her whole body, causing her to stumble forward into Legolas. He turned and caught her by the waist. Their eyes met for a breathtaking moment. Calime couldn't look away; his azure blue eyes and kind, sad smile mesmerized her. Then Aragorn broke the spell by coming down the stairs behind them.  
  
At the base of the staircase, a group of elves had gathered. They were all fair, with long blond hair and light clothes in various shades of gray and blue. One elf stood out among them. He had dark, short hair, and an expectant, anxious look was on his handsome face. He looked up, as though he sensed Calime's gaze. He smiled joyfully, disbelievingly.  
  
"Sunni?"  
  
"Papa?" Calime stared in disbelief at the man before her. Her head began to spin. Thoughts, voices, and colors all swirled together like a child's spinning top. She put her hand to her head, grabbing the shoulder of a hobbit to keep herself upright. As it passed, she was whisked away by the others. The last thing she saw before she turned on a bend in the road was the sad, despairing look on her father's face.  
  
Haldir showed them to an area surrounded by trees. Carved into two of the trees were rooms with beds in them. When Calime came back to the tree lined "room" she noticed that the others had spread out, relaxing for the first time since Rivendell. Boromir and Aragorn were talking, Legolas was telling the hobbits something about Gandalf, and Frodo was gone, probably to Galadriel's mirror. She slipped from the clearing without anyone noticing, and hurried along the path. Where she was going, she did not know, only that she would know when she got there. Finally, she came to a bench, set back from the path, surrounded in so many redwoods that she would not have noticed if it hadn't been for the voice calling to her.  
  
"Sunni." She turned at the sound of the now-unfamiliar name. There sat her father, looking both relieved and nervous.  
  
"My name is Calime now," she responded, more sharply than she intended to. He nodded.  
"I wondered how long it would take for you to begin using that name. I hoped it was only a matter of time." Calime suddenly felt a flash of recognition.  
  
*~~***~~* Flashback*~~***~~*  
  
"Calime, my little elf. How was your day?"  
  
"It was fun, Papa! Amma let me groom Flashtrack AND Grey Dreamer!" Five-year-old Sunni exclaimed.  
  
"What fun! And did you have fun at gymnastics?"  
  
"Yup! I got to go on the beam, and I did three cartwheels!" Abruptly, the little girl's face turned pensive and she looked around at all of the books in the study. "Papa, will you tell me a story?"  
  
"Of course. I know!" He picked her up and set her in his lap. He pulled a leather-bound journal from his desk and, opening it, began to read. "Long, long ago, in a land called Lothlorien, a little elf called Calime lived. She loved horses and adventures..."  
  
*~~***~~*End Flashback*~~***~~*  
  
Calime shivered again, even though the air was warm. A familiar, fatherly look passed over Jack's face.  
  
"Do you feel alright? You look pale, and shiver, yet it is not cold," he asked, putting a hand to her cheek. She recoiled.  
  
"Are you one of them? An elf, I mean," she asked hesitantly. He sighed, as though he didn't know how to say what he wanted to say.  
  
"Yes, I am an elf, of Lothlorien, as are you. I returned here because I had to."  
  
"Why did you ever come to Earth? How?"  
  
"When I was young, perhaps the same age as your companion, Legolas, I wanted to see new places. I left, and in an old elf settlement called Mairadhras Galenol, I found a ring, much like the one you wear. I found myself in a hospital in Wisconsin. I was 14, by Earth years. A family adopted me, and I studied hard to learn everything I could. I became a doctor, met your mother, joined Doctors Without Borders, and had all of you children. You are the only that carries the elven traits, though; sensitive, pointy ears, keen eyesight, hunger for learning, grace, beauty, passion for anything beautiful and good."  
  
"Why did you come back here, if everything was so good on Earth?"  
  
"I was fading there. I needed to return to my home. I don't regret it, although I do miss everything I left behind. This is where I belong, and I don't regret that at all. I knew that you belonged here, too, and that you, too, would begin to fade on Earth. I found another ring, and hid it where I knew you would find it. And find it you did."  
  
"Does Amma know?"  
  
"She knows that I needed to leave, and that I am not from Earth. I am not sure whether she believes it or not, but she is a strong woman. She will love again, this I know."  
  
"What about the others? Adam, and Evan, Maja and Hope? Did you even think about them? I can accept this; I have seen Middle-earth, and I love it here. For the first time, I have a sense of belonging, but the others don't have this. How must they feel?"  
  
"They do not know that I left for Lothlorien. They simply believe that I was killed in the Embassy bombing." Then, an elf walked past and, spotting her father, called out to him in Elvish. He nodded and turned back to his daughter.  
  
"I must leave now, but I wish to see you again before you venture on your quest."  
  
"How can I find you?"  
  
"Ask any elf for Turin. They will find me." With that, he was gone.  
  
~~**~~**~~**~~  
  
Calime sat completely still on the bench, losing track of time. Tired and weary, she pulled her knees to her chest and, overcome with a wave of sadness, began to weep like a brokenhearted lass. Faint footsteps drew closer, and an arm slipped around her shoulders, holding her close. She felt the faint beat of a heart surge through her body.  
  
"Mellonamin, what is wrong?" Legolas? Since when were they friends?  
  
"Why—why did he leave? Why did he—he have to go?" The last word trailed off into a wail. Legolas pulled her closer. After a few minutes, the tears passed, leaving Calime feeling very embarrassed.  
  
"I'm sorry, Legolas."  
  
"Why are you sorry?"  
  
"For getting all weepy. I feel stupid now." He shook his head at her.  
  
"Feeling sad is nothing to feel ashamed or embarrassed about," he said softly. "Who was that man?"  
  
"That was my father."  
  
"Your father? I thought you were from a different world. Turin is an Elven healer."  
  
"He is an elf. He lived in California, where I am from, for a while. I guess that means that I am an elf, too."  
  
"You have been an elf as long as I have known you, you just didn't believe it."  
  
"I suppose. Wait a second. I thought you hated me but you called me your friend."  
  
"I didn't hate you. I was just shocked that you were from another world. I didn't know that there were other worlds. And was a bit angry that you lied to us," Legolas replied.  
  
"OK, I guess. Come on, let's go back to the others. I am tired, and I just want to sleep." Legolas looked at her with the same concern her father had. "What?"  
  
"I suppose it is nothing. Most elves don't get tired, is all."  
  
"Well, I am not most elves." As she stood, the familiar dizziness hit her again, and she fell to her knees. Green, brown, silver all swirled together. A buzzing sound filled her head, and her head and neck throbbed awfully. She heard her name being called, but she couldn't answer; she felt like she was going to be sick, and someone called for help.  
  
"Where's Amma?" was the last thing she remembered saying before the swirling colors stopped and all was silent and black.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 5 REVIEWS!!! THAT'S ALL I ASK!!!! Oh, well, thanks to those that reviewed:  
  
Shadow of the Ages: Thanks for your review! I know, I have a way of writing that is VERY hard to understand sometimes, even to me. ;) I hope you keep reading!  
  
Dark-phoenix-angel13590: Thanks for reviewing. LOL, I'm not a big fan of slash at all, but Aragorn/ Legolas is REALLY overdone, and its just wrong, I think. Anyway, I'm glad you like. ;) I hope you keep reviewing! Yeah, when I update, it doesn't always load right away. Maybe it's a system thing.  
  
Lil Eimeim: LOL You brighten up my day, ;). Thanks for reviewing! And reading! 


	16. Comence una Vida Nueva

Disclaimer: I don't own LOTR and I don't get any money for this. Yet.  
  
Hey, sorry it has been so long! My muse has taken a vacation, but didn't bother to inform me first! Plus, my teachers have ganged up and given us about a million hours of homework! So, this chapter is dedicated to: Senora Ginsbach, Mr. Silby, Ms. Bobeck, Mr. Callender, Mr. Kellenberger, Mr. Mullen, and Ms. Young. Thanks so much! (Not!) And real thanks to Ms. Rizzotto, who proofreads my stuff!  
  
WARNING!!!: This chapter will be slightly repetitive, especially in thoughts!! And rather boring in places, but PLEASE bear with me!!  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Chapter 16: Comence una Vida Nueva  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The first thing that came back to Calime was the heat, the terrible heat that made her feel like she was lying in a fire. Then came her hearing, but even that seemed to be jumbled between her worlds.  
  
"Bacterial meningitis*. We need antibiotics-"  
  
"Calime, can you hear me? Don't give in. You can fight this, little- elf!"  
  
Random utterances blended in with wild colors like a disco ball, mixed in with long spells of blackness when she could not hear or see anything. 'It's like being on a really weird trip,' she thought in a brief moment of clarity.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
*A/N: For those of you that don't know, bacterial meningitis is the swelling of the meninges. The meninges are the tissues that surround your brain. When you get meningitis, and it comes in many degrees of severity, you usually get a stiff neck and headache, fever and some people get a really sore throat, and most people feel more tired than usual. Just thought I'd explain. Also, there is no record of 'colors and voices' in people who have had meningitis. This is simply my artistic license at work.  
  
Also, from here on until (probably) the next chapter, everything will be from the view of Legolas, Aragorn, other Fellowship members, and people from her 'alternate' existence. I'll tell you who's who when we get there. Enjoy!  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Fellowship POV:  
  
The Fellowship 'lost' its second member in Lothlorien. After Calime fell, she was taken to the House of Healing. Three days later, the Fellowship sat restlessly in their area. They had not heard anything, and at nightfall, they would have to leave to finish their mission. Merry and Pippin had tried, to no avail, to lighten the tense mood, and were now sitting dejectedly on a bench. Frodo sat on another bench, brooding, with a worried Sam next to him.  
  
When Turin finally entered the area, a few minutes before dusk, the tension was near to the breaking point. They had finished packing their belongings and now had no excuse to delay any longer. Turin looked exhausted and terribly sad.  
  
"What is it, Turin? What news do you have?" Aragorn asked. Turin shook his head somberly.  
  
"My daughter has an infection that she got from her other world. Without the medicine of that world," he broke off, then cleared his throat and began again. "Without the medicine of that world, it is not likely that even the best Elven healers can help her."  
  
The Fellowship stared in shock. The news they had dreaded was the next thing Turin said. "Without that medicine, it is doubtful she will last through the night."  
  
The stunned silence seemed louder than the cries of a thousand orcs.  
  
"Go now. Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn wish to speak with you before you leave." With that, Turin left the clearing and hurried back to the House of Healing.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Maja's POV:  
  
My sister lay in a coma, and all I could think about was how much I wished Nick were there. Nick was Sunni's boyfriend, a stable hand at Wind Dancer Farm, but I had had the most awful crush on him ever since he had given me a daisy on my birthday, so I wouldn't feel left out. He had given the other 11 to my sister, and that's when I realized that he was the nicest guy I had met in a long time. That's also when I realized that I couldn't have him. He loved Sunni. And I couldn't hurt my sister like that. But as she lay unconscious in a sterile, bland hospital room, I couldn't tear my thoughts from him. Did that make me a horrible person?  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Fellowship POV:  
  
"Never before have we clad strangers in the garb of our people. May these cloaks help shield you from unfriendly eyes," Celeborn said. As the others headed to the three boats waiting in the river, Celeborn turned to speak to Aragorn. He handed him a curved dagger. "Every league you travel south, the danger will increase. Mordor orcs now hold the eastern shore of the Anduin. Nor will you find safety on the western bank. Strange creatures bearing the mark of the White Hand have been seen on our borders. Seldom do orcs journey in the open under the sun, yet these have done so. You are being tracked. By river you have the chance of outrunning the enemy of the Falls of Rauros."  
  
With that note, the Fellowship set out down the river.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
POV: Turin and the Healers:  
  
Together, Turin and two other Healers worked for many hours, using every Elven medicine they knew. Cold water for the fever, blankets for the chills, pillows around her head for the terrible pain that kept her from being comfortable. Many of their efforts were futile: elves rarely got sick, never died from it. None of the medicines they had would compare with what Turin could get at the hospital where his office was, but that was in another world, and he would not allow himself to think of that.  
  
Two days after the Fellowship had departed, the Healers had resigned themselves, and now only Turin sat at Calime's bedside, waiting until the end came.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
*  
  
Fellowship POV:  
  
Frodo and Sam had gone, gone to find Mordor and Mount Doom alone. Pippin and Merry had been captured by Uruk-hai. Boromir had passed into the other world, never to partake of life again.  
  
"Three of our number dead in less than a week. And who knows if we'll ever see the Hobbits again," Aragorn said. "It hardly seems possible. But we'll not abandon Merry and Pippin to torment and death. Not while we have strength left. Leave all that can be left behind here. We travel light. Let's hunt some orc."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
*  
  
Calime's POV:  
  
'I am going to die. I know I am going to die, and Papa will not know that I still love him. I will never say good-bye to Maja, and Legolas will never know how much I like him. All aboard the Shadow Express. Gandalf, you're getting some company.' Then her thoughts stopped swirling, and in a brief moment of absolute clarity, she felt a single tear slide down her cheek. Then the darkness returned, and she took a solitary, shallow breath.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Reviewers:  
  
Latanya: Muchas gracias for reviewing! Keep reading!!  
  
Dark-phoenix-angel13590: I'm glad you like it! Did you have fun in Nashville? Amma is a Thai variation on "Mom" or "Mama." Here, she is saying that she wants her mother. Anyway, thanks for your review!  
  
Legolas's Bride: ::wink:: I am addicted to Legomances, too. There haven't been any good ones up in a while, though. I am happy that you like the elf father part. I wasn't sure about that one. ;) Hope you keep reading and reviewing!!  
  
Elvinscarf: Thanks for reading and reviewing!!! Now go to sleep! And keep reading!  
  
Eamane-elf: I'm writing, I'm writing!! ::I love ice cream!:: Unfortunately, I am broke. But I can give you a new chapter!!!  
  
Kimbly: Thank you so much! Reviews like yours make my day! The reason I try to make my stories easy to read is because reading is not my best subject, and I want to share this with everyone. Thanks, though! Keep reading!! 


	17. Do What You Were Born to Do

Disclaimer: I only own Turin, Calime, and Mirime. Everything else is Tolkien's.  
  
I AM SO SORRY THAT THIS CHAPTER TOOK SO LONG!!!! I have been so worn out! Soccer tryouts began this week, mid-semester exams start in a few weeks and we have a dance performance coming up really soon, so I am too tired to keep my head up in school. I can't wait for summer vacation!!!  
  
Okay, small rant. I don't know how many of you have seen the "Happy Cows come from California" commercials, but they tick me off. OK, I come from Wisconsin, the ORIGINAL dairy state, and I have spent quite a bit of time on dairy farms. And I have nothing against California, but don't you think CA has enough claims to fame, like beaches, Hollywood, Silicon Valley, Redwood Forest, etc? I think it's pretty rude to take our ONLY claim to "fame." EAT WISCONSIN CHEESE!!! Rant over.  
  
READ:: Love Conquers All by Lainfaer. It's a really good story!! Just thought I'd mention it. ;)  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Chapter 17: The Reawakening  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Whatever you want to do, do it. There are only so many tomorrows"  
  
Turin was talking to his unconscious daughter. Three more days had passed, and all hope had been given up. Now they merely waited for the end to come. The quote was one he had often said to his children. He wanted them to know that someday, as "mortals," they would not have any more days, and they must fill them with as many adventures as they could. Sunni, or as he called her, Calime, seemed to be the only one who ever heeded the advice.  
  
"Oh, Valar, what have I done? My foolishness has killed my daughter!" Turin cried, his calm façade cracking. His practiced Elven manner, devoid of all emotion except utter control, was slipping from him as he buried his head in his hands and sobbed like a baby. Minutes passed, until he was startled from his crying by a small voice.  
  
"Papa, why do you cry so?" Turin stood quickly, drying his tears. Calime was slowly trying to sit up  
  
"Little Calime! You are awake!! You are alive!!"  
  
"Yeah, I guess so. Is that why you cry?"  
  
"I cried because I thought you were gone. But you are alive!"  
  
"I was always alive, Papa, you just gave up hope. Did you honestly think I would leave you all?"  
  
"No. Well, it did seem that way for a few days." Calime gave him a shrewd, calculating look, and he smiled. "OK, you are right. I did give up hope, but I was wrong to despair. Now, you should go to sleep. You may feel better, but you are still very weak."  
  
"Wait, Papa. How long have I been here?"  
  
"About two weeks."  
  
"TWO WEEKS!! Did the Fellowship leave already?" she asked, dread forming a knot in her stomach.  
  
"Yes. They left a week and a few days ago." Calime nodded, and Turin turned and left the room.  
  
'They left me here, and I didn't get to say goodbye. Will I ever see them again?'  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
As days slowly passed, Calime's strength began to return. A week after she had awoken, she walked with her father through the golden woods of Lothlorien. Calime held to her father's arm to steady her. They walked without speaking for a long time, simply admiring the tall trees and golden, cheerfully singing birds that flitted from tree to tree. A constant hum filled the air, like a beautiful song that was wonderfully foreign and familiar at the same time.  
  
"It's the trees. They sing," Turin said, interrupting her thoughts.  
  
"Hey! You're not supposed to read my mind!!" Calime exclaimed. He smirked, his eyes sparkling.  
  
"Yes I am. It's in the father's handbook. Didn't you read it?"  
  
"Yeah, I would have read that if I was a father and had any spare time," she retorted, knowing full well that he was joking. "I only take 8 hours of gymnastics practices a day, so I have oodles of spare time, didn't you know? Of course, the fact that I can barely read is only a small hindrance in that venture, isn't it?"  
  
Turin frowned at the bitter tone her joke had taken on.  
  
"Come on, 'Lime. You can read!'  
  
"Of course I can read. I just can't tell the letters apart!" Calime was no longer joking. Her dyslexia had always been a sore point with her, but never upset her very much. Now she was near tears and she had no idea why. Suddenly, the sound of running horses approached the clearing where they stood. A flash of recognition shocked Calime as a tall, chestnut horse ran past her, followed by several mounted guards. Breaking into a run, she cried out.  
  
"Stop! That's my horse! Stop!!" She ran as fast as she could, her breath coming in easy pants, her braid coming loose, a smile forming on her lips for the first time in days. The elf guards slowed at her calls, turning in their saddles to look at the tiny slip of a girl, running as though her life depended on it, her features lit up by a huge grin. Slowing to a jog, Calime whistled, her fingers between her lips. Turin came up behind her, but if she noticed him, she didn't show it. Hearing her whistle, the horse slowed, and then turned crab stepping a bit, as though uncertain. She whistled again, and called "Mirime!!" The horse snorted, then trotted up to her, burying her muzzle in Calime's chest. She hugged the big horse, murmuring softly into the horse's ear. "Oh, Mirime, I missed you so much!!"  
  
Looking up, she saw that the guards were smiling at the happily reunited pair. When they saw that the horse was no longer a threat to the people of Lorien, they trotted back to their posts. Calime ran her hands down her beloved horse's sides, coming to rest at the saddle. Tied to a strap of leather was a scroll of paper. Untying it, Calime slowly scanned the Elvish characters. After a moment's hesitation, she read aloud.  
  
"'Dear Calime,  
  
This poor horse has been pacing her stall ever since you left Rivendell. She seems to miss you very much, and I thought she would be of assistance on your journey. I have set her loose, knowing that this faithful creature will find you.  
  
Soon, you must decide whether to leave Lothlorien and join the battle for Middle-Earth or stay in the safety of Lothlorien. I cannot make this decision for you, but I think I know what you want to do. Just remember, you come from a long line of warriors and healers. Become who you were born to be.  
  
Elrond.' "  
  
Turin cleared his throat.  
  
"You know what this means, don't you?"  
  
"Yes, Papa. It means that I must leave."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Calime quickly packed her few belongings. Glad to be rid of the dress she had worn for three days, she happily changed into her Elven battle clothes and packed her weapons. After making sure she had food and water, she slung the pack on her shoulder and left the room. In the clearing nearest to the exit, Mirime waited, saddled and rested, along with her father, Galadriel and Celeborn. As she approached, Galadriel placed a green cloak over her shoulders, clasping it under her chin with a silver and green leaf-shaped clasp.  
  
"Thank you, Lady Galadriel, Lord Celeborn, for your hospitality." Both elves nodded, sad smiles on their faces. She turned to Turin. Suddenly, she wrapped her arms around him. After a small, startled hesitation, he hugged her back.  
  
"I will see you again before you know it, Papa. This is just what I have to do."  
  
"I know, Little Elf. I know. I love you."  
  
"I love you too Papa."  
  
"Be careful and travel to the Westfold, quickly." Calime swung into the saddle, and with a last glance at elves gathering in the clearing, nudged the horse into a canter. "Noro lim, Mirime, noro lim."  
  
And then they were gone, to fulfill their destiny.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Reviewers:  
  
Dark-Phoenix-angel13590: I'm glad you had a good time, and that you like this story! Happy Birthday!  
  
Lil Eimeim: Thanks a lot! Glad that you like it!! I'm updating, I'm updating! Yikes! Happy reading!  
  
Eamane-elf: Thanks! I'm writing, so you have to read! And review! That's right, just keep running, I'll find you, my pretty.. hehehehe... Are you obsessed with ice cream? YAY, I'm not alone. LOL. Happy reading!  
  
Glorwen: Thanks!! I'm trying to update as much as I can, but my teachers aren't helping much! Keep reading and reviewing!! 


	18. I will not be left behind!

Disclaimer: Newsflash: ATTENTION!!! I don't own Lord of the Rings. (Big surprise, eh?)  
  
Happy St. Patrick's Day!! (a little belated, but what's a few days?) I am an Irish lass and proud of it!!  
  
Warning: There will probably be a fair amount of swearing in this chapter. You are forewarned!!  
  
A/N: Sorry these chapters are so far apart!! I am so busy getting my butt kicked by a barrage of soccer balls and trying not to scream at my coach when he won't put me in the game. (AHHH!) I can't wait for spring break, because I'll probably have a chapter up every day to make up for my pitiful negligence. Something like 23 days to break and 57 school days to summer! Plus, I have been fighting with a case of mono for days now, and it sucks.  
  
OK, you all don't care to read my life story, so on with the chapter! Oh, and the song is "Headstrong" by Trapt. I heard it on a commercial and thought it kind of fit with the story, and I will probably use the lyrics again later in the story.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Chapter 18: I will not be left behind!!!  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Back off we'll take you on  
  
Headstrong to take on anyone  
  
I know that you are wrong  
  
Headstrong we're Headstrong  
  
Back off I'll take you on  
  
Headstrong to take on anyone  
  
I know that you are wrong  
  
And this is not where you belong  
  
The lyrics to the familiar song ran through Calime's head as she cantered atop Mirime, the wind in her hair, a grin across her face. She had been riding towards Rohan for two days now, and had entered a large, hilly area with browning grass and few trees. The Riddermark. Far ahead, she saw a large group of men on horses, riding directly towards her. 'That's either Eomer and his band, or a lot of orcs' she thought, drawing her bow and an arrow from the pack on her back. The group was traveling at a fast pace, and even though Mirime had slowed to a bouncy trot, they were approaching too fast for Calime's liking. Soon, too soon, the contingent was only a few feet from her. She slowed Mirime, keeping a vigilant eye on the leader as the group stopped. 'Eomer'  
  
"Who are you? What business does an elf-maiden have in the Riddermark? Speak!" Eomer said, a scowl on his face.  
  
"I am Calime of Lorien. I am searching for my companions. Tell me, have you seen a strange group of three? A man, a dwarf and an elf, most likely," Calime returned. Several of the men exchanged surprised glances at her boldness.  
  
"An elf, man and dwarf, you say? We passed them three days ago, looking for several bobbits or something like that," Eomer replied.  
  
"Hobbits? Two of them?"  
  
"Yes, that was it. They would probably have gone on the Edoras, though."  
  
"All right, thank you!" She turned Mirime and urged the tall horse into a trot, leaving a stunned Eomer behind as she laughed softly into the wind. 'Elf-maiden! You don't know the half of it!'  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Fellowship POV:  
  
"Gimli! Have you seen Aragorn?" Legolas called. A dying orc laughed evilly near his feet as Gimli trotted over. Legolas turned to him, an angry scowl on his fair face "Where is he!?"  
  
"He-he went over the cliff," the orc choked out. Legolas and Gimli peered over the edge of the cliff.  
  
"He could not have survived that fall!" Gimli exclaimed. Legolas sadly shook his head and turned away. First Calime, then Boromir, Merry and Pippin and now Aragorn. Would there be any of the Fellowship left?  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Three days. They must have fought the wargs already, so I should go toward Helm's Deep. Someone will recognize me there," Calime said to herself, rubbing her hands over Mirime's lathered neck. They had reached a river, so they stopped to drink. The quiet hum of water lapping at rocks and the sound of Mirime slurping up water was interrupted by the sound of boots crunching on pebbles. Calime's hand paused on Mirime's neck, ready to spring to action. She set her other hand to the hilt of her sword and, in one smooth motion, swung around, pulling her sword from its sheath at the same time. The edge of the blade stopped a mere inch from the intruder's neck. When she saw who it was, she breathed a deep sigh of relief.  
  
"Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ, make a little noise, Aragorn! You scared me! I was two inches from cutting your flippin' head off!"  
  
"My, my, such language," Aragorn scolded, a huge smile crossing his scratched and bruised face. Calime returned her sword to it's sheath and hugged the tall ranger.  
  
"I missed y'all so much! Are Legolas and Gimli at Helm's Deep?"  
  
"I don't know. I have not seen them since we battled orcs and wargs. But I do have a question for you. How can you be alive? Turin said that you would certainly die."  
  
"I was supposed to die, I guess. Everyone thought I would, but I guess I'm a miracle," Calime said. Then she sighed heavily. Aragorn looked at her curiously. "Oh, it's nothing. Except, in my 'other' world, where I got sick, I think I did die, or I won't wake up. I just have a really bad feeling that I can never go back."  
  
Aragorn nodded knowingly. "It is very rare when you can go home and nothing will have changed."  
  
"Oh, come on, Buddha. We should probably go to Helm's Deep. I'd be willing to bet money that that's where Legolas and Gimli are."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"How many orcs do you think that is?" Calime asked, awe-struck. She and Aragorn were at the crest of a large hill, looking down at a vast number of orcs and uruk-hai gathered in neat formations.  
  
"At least ten thousand."  
  
"Holy-! How many soldiers does Rohan have behind them?"  
  
"No more than six thousand, if they get aid from Gondor."  
  
"This is definitely not good."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
"That's Helm's Deep?" Calime asked incredulously. Aragorn nodded. They were fast approaching Helm's Deep, and the large stone wall that protected the keep loomed ahead. They rode to the gate, which was pulled open.  
  
"You're alive! Bless you laddie!" Gimli's voice boomed out as he fought between the crowds gathering around them. He turned to Calime, astonished. "And you! You should have been dead long ago!"  
  
"Gee, thanks Gimli. Nice to see you, too," she returned, giving him a short hug.  
  
"Gimli, where is the king?" Aragorn interrupted. Gimli pointed up, indicating that King Theoden was higher up. Aragorn turned Hasufel and started up the rise to where the king was. Calime followed. They came to a large area with many people milling about purposefully. A large building was set back from a gray stone battlement. They dismounted and walked up a set of stairs. Calime noticed a woman with blond hair surveying them from some distance away. 'Eowyn.' Legolas came forward, spotting Aragorn. Calime ducked behind a pillar, not ready to face him yet.  
  
"You're late," Legolas said. "You look awful."  
  
Legolas handed Aragorn the Evenstar as Calime came from behind the pillar. She hesitated, and then stepped forward. His sharp Elven hearing heard her, and he looked over his friend's shoulder. "Calime?"  
  
She walked forward, covering the distance quickly. Seconds later, his strong arms embraced her. He whispered in her ear, "I thought you were dead. Don't scare me like that again."  
  
Calime squeezed him hard one last time, and then stepped back and punched him square in the jaw. Legolas put a hand to his face, looking shocked.  
  
"Don't ever leave me behind. No one gets left behind or forgotten."  
  
A slow grin crossed his face, and he hugged her again.  
  
"Legolas, where is the king?" Legolas pointed behind him, and Aragorn disappeared.  
  
"Why is he so eager to speak to Theoden?"  
  
"We saw something major."  
  
"What?" Legolas asked. She hesitated. "Calime, what did you see?"  
  
"Orcs. And Uruk-hai."  
  
"Where? How many?"  
  
"Isengard. Not far from here. About 10,000." A shocked, horrified look passed over the elf's normally composed face. Then his calm façade returned.  
  
"We can beat them."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Reviewers:  
  
Lainfaer: Thanks for your review on my poem, and for reading this story, as well. I love fanfic!!  
  
Lil Eimeim: Thanks so much!! It makes all this writing worth it to get reviews like yours!! Keep reading! And when is the sequel to your story coming up? I haven't seen it!  
  
Dark-phoenix-angel13590: I couldn't kill off Calime! It's very strange, but writing this story has almost made her seem like part of me. Wow, that sounds corny. Thanks for liking my story!! And for reviewing!!  
  
Glorwen: You're welcome! I know, die teachers, and leave me alone to live in my fantasy world. Or Tolkien's world, rather. And it does seem that no one is updating lately, eh? Happy reading!!  
  
Eamane-elf: I agree. Ice cream rocks!!!! Especially Butter Pecan. ;) LOL, you (or your sister) must be reading my mind. I thought of having her punch Legolas about 4 chapters ago. Great minds think alike, eh? Thanks for reviewing!! 


	19. Helm's Deep

Disclaimer: I don't own Lord of the Rings (surprise, surprise) but I do own Calime, Mirime, and the plot changes, so please don't steal/borrow them without permission.  
  
A/N: I AM SO SORRY FOR ABANDONING Y'ALL!!!! (*-ducks flying chairs and tomatoes-*) I have been mondo busy, but I won't bore you with the details (they're in my bio if you really want to know.). But, my team won our first game today (Thursday) so I shall give you a chapter in happiness. (HAMILTON SUCKS!!!)  
  
A/N: I am once again messing with the plotline of their time in Edoras/Helm's Deep. Note: I know that one scene here between Eowyn and Aragorn takes place in Edoras, not H.D., so please don't tell me this!! I have reasons!!!  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Chapter 19: At Helm's Deep  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Calime was sitting on a high stone wall that lined the walls of many of the halls in Helm's Deep. Her legs swung merrily, several feet from the ground, and she munched on an apple that she had brought all the way from Lothlorien in her pack. 'I really have to stop going three days without eating,' she thought as she ravenously attacked the apple. A motion in the room across from where she sat caught her eye. Eowyn picked up a sword and ran her finger along it gently. Turning sharply several times, she swung the sword in a graceful, powerful way. Footsteps approached, but Eowyn did not seem to hear them. Turning, Calime saw Aragorn quickly approaching. He nodded at Calime, and then followed her gaze to Eowyn's graceful movements. Calime amusedly watched Aragorn's rapt gaze. 'Love is in the air...' she hummed to herself.  
  
"Calime? What are you doing over here? Shouldn't you be getting ready for the battle?" Legolas said, his voice close to her. She mentally punched herself for not paying better attention.  
  
"Hi, Legolas. I'm fine, how might you be?" she replied sarcastically to hide her anger at herself. Legolas smirked infuriatingly. 'Does he have to be so gorgeous? This makes it awfully hard to be annoyed at him.'  
  
"Pardon me, I seemed to have lost my manners," he replied formally. "How might you be this fine evening, Lady Calime."  
  
"Okay, you can cut the formalities, since you clearly do not recognize sarcasm."  
  
"I simply thought that a great warrior such as yourself would be preparing for the coming battle."  
  
"Oh, excu-use me, Prince. I've only been unconscious for three weeks, traveled about a million miles in only a few days and then nearly chopped my friend's head off. On top of that, this is the first I have eaten since I left Lothlorien. Pardon me if I stopped to rest a moment." As soon as the words had left Calime's mouth, she regretted saying them. Several feelings passed through Legolas's eyes, including hurt, but the one she most regretted was concern. 'Smooth, girl. I thought elves were poised; must have missed that day at elf school. It's not like Legolas and everyone else don't have enough to worry about, no, I have to add myself to the list.' She quickly jumped from the wall. "Sorry, Legolas. Anyway, I'm not going to fight."  
  
"You're not going to fight? But we need you!!"  
  
"Well, I'm going to fight, but not as Calime." Legolas's eyebrow furrowed.  
  
"Eowyn's going to fight in my place. I will fight as a person of Rohan," she explained.  
  
"Eowyn? You mean Theoden's niece? Why is she fighting in your place?"  
  
"Look at her. She wants to fight, and she has reason to fight. Her family and her people are in danger, and her uncle will not let her help in the battle. I can fight, but have nothing to fight for. My family and my home are not in Middle-Earth, and if Sauron took over, I would not lose anything."  
  
"Well, how do you plan to go about getting Eowyn to fight in your place?" Calime grinned and pulled him closer, and whispered her plan in his ear.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Are you sure that this is going to work?" Eowyn said doubtfully as Calime explained the plan.  
  
"Of course it will work. Just put this in your hair and braid it, and pull up this cloak high on your neck," Calime assured as she handed the woman a black jar and a stack of clothing. "If anyone asks, you are Calime O Lorien, and make sure to cover your ears with your hair."  
  
"Alright," Eowyn said, turning to leave. Hesitating, she turned back to the strange girl who bore the marks of a fighter. "Thank you."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
The orcs came, but Gandalf was just ahead of them with legions of Elf warriors from Lothlorien and Rivendell. Calime recognized Haldir, but was quickly caught in the fighting before having a chance to see if she recognized anyone else. While fighting on the keep, she kept her hair covered and remained a safe distance from those she knew.  
  
Just after slaying an orc, Calime looked up to the keep, and saw Haldir dueling furiously.  
  
"Haldir!!"  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
'This is my fault,' Calime thought, hurrying away from the hordes, and from the piles of slain orcs, elves and Men. She had hurried to the Deeping Wall, but had reached Haldir just in time to see him fall, the orc arrow protruding heinously from a glistening pool of silver-red blood on his chest. 'I could have saved him. I can't believe this!!'  
  
Checking behind her, she saw that the others were busy gathering bodies to be burned and frantically searching for loved ones. Calime ducked behind a stone wall and pulled a knife from the sheath on her ankle. She raised it to her bared arm and had just made a small river of blood appear when an all too familiar voice was raised behind her.  
  
"What are you doing?"  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Reviewers:  
  
Glorwen: Awesome! I'll go check it out!! Really? The ring is gone!!!!!!! YAY!! I wish I were hyper; I just want to go to sleep. ;) Happy reading!!  
  
Lil Eimeim: Thanks for your review!! I'll be sure to check it out as soon as it's up! Keep reading and reviewing!!  
  
Lainfaer: I full intend to put Calime with someone, I'm just not sure who yet. Perhaps...Pippin? Heehee, wait and see! Thanks for reading my story!!! Legolas's Bride: LOL. Yup, she's back with the Fellowship. I spent large amounts of time trying to decide what to do at Helm's Deep. I hope you like how it turns out! My dad is a bit better, thanks. I like all your names!! Keep reading and reviewing!!  
  
Lady Phoenix Slytherin: Thanks!! Hey, are you new to my gaggle of reviewers? I don't think I've seen you before, but I could be wrong. Thanks for your review and keep reading, though!  
  
FrodoFever: Thanks for reading my poem. It is pretty straightforward. Legolas and Aragorn would become kings (reign). Merry and Pippin would find that even though they are small doesn't mean that they can't fight. I am glad that you liked and that you are going to read my story. Happy day!!  
  
Leslie Lady of Light: Wow, I didn't think that anyone read my bio!!! I just love quotes!! Thanks so much! And great screen name!! 


	20. I Didn't Choose My Fate

Disclaimer: Geez, y'all! Get off my case! I don't own anything that you recognize, except for Mirime, Calime and the plot changes. Satisfied?  
  
I don't know what happens right after Helm's Deep, and the good parts are in Edoras, so we shall go on there. (After finding Merry and PIPPIN of course. ;))  
  
Ducks flying objects from readers I am SO sorry for not having this up sooner!! Two months! Bad Sunni!!! If y'all really want to know why, it will be in my profile. SORRY!!!  
  
Chapter 20: I didn't choose my Fate  
  
"What are you doing?" Aragorn repeated as Calime dropped the knife. It fell with a clatter to her feet, but she didn't bend to pick it up. Panicking, she yanked the ring from her finger. Hurtling through space and time, she heard Aragorn shouting. Suddenly she was nestled in a soft bed. She could hear beeping and hushed voices, but all she saw was blackness. She tuned in to what the voices were saying.  
  
"Mrs. Hudson, your daughter has suffered extensive brain damage. She cannot breathe on her own, and there is no upper brain movement."  
  
"What does that mean, doctor?"  
  
"It means that Solsken has no chance of survival without machines."  
  
"What are you suggesting that we do?"  
  
"I would recommend turning off the machines. It would be futile to leave them on, and it would be cruel." Sunni didn't hear her mother's answer, only the sound of someone crying. Then, a soft voice was heard.  
  
"Can we say good-bye?"  
  
"Of course. I'll be in the hall. Call for me when you are ready." There was the sound of a door clicking shut, and then steps approaching the bed.  
  
"Sun, you're one of my best friends. The best sister I could have asked for. I'm going to miss you so much. Save me a place in heaven, eh?" Adam said, squeezing her limp hand. He placed a kiss on her forehead.  
  
"I'm so sorry for all the times I made fun of you, and for the things I said, and how I wouldn't let you hang out with my friends, and how I blackmailed you into doing my chores. I'm going to miss you something awful." Evan's voice cracked, and her mother's came instead.  
  
"Maybe you were the child I forgot the most, Solsken, but that never meant that I loved you any less. It just meant that your brothers were more trouble. Now I regret not telling you every day how wonderful you are, and how much I love you. Well, dakka, I love you more than life itself, and I know Papa will take good care of you in Heaven." Tip placed a soft kiss on each of her daughter's cheeks and brushed a bit of hair from where it lay, trapped underneath the ventilator tube. Sunni felt at that moment like that bit of hair: trapped, unable to do anything but lay there and listen. She wanted to cry out 'I am alive!! Don't kill me!!! I love you! Please!' But she couldn't. No words would come to her lips.  
  
"Ss Dun gon t'Pap?" Hope asked in her mangled speech.  
  
"Yes, Hope, Sunni is going to Papa," Adam answered.  
  
"Sun, you are my best friend ever. I love you so much, it hurts like I am dying myself right now," Maja said, her tears falling on the lifeless hand she held in her own hand. "This is yours." Then, Maja slid the silver ring onto Sunni's hand, but she didn't go to Middle Earth. Instead, she heard the door open, and the doctor enter.  
  
"It's time." There was a pause, then a long beep and a long, painful wail that gradually faded as Sunni returned to the small room in Helm's Deep.  
  
"Calime? What is wrong? You look as though you have seen a spirit," Aragorn said.  
  
"Close enough," Calime murmured, running her hand over the thin cuts. A patter of footsteps marked Legolas's entrance.  
  
"There you are! I was beginning to think you had fallen in the fighting, Calime," he remarked.  
  
"I wish!"  
  
"What??"  
  
"I said I wish I had died out there instead of dying a pathetic, meek death that my family had to watch! I wish I hadn't died at all! Death is the worst idea ever! It never does any good, it just makes people hurt." Legolas looked at her in confusion, but Aragorn simply hugged her.  
  
"It does hurt, doesn't it? But it gets easier. Not better, but easier to handle."  
  
"You don't get it, Aragorn!! I DIED!! I no longer exist in a world where I belong!!"  
  
"What are you talking about?" Legolas asked. Aragorn interrupted.  
  
"Legolas, please." Aragorn's arms left her, and Legolas picked her up and carried her to a wide wall in the hall of the wounded, where he laid her down. Carefully, he cleaned her cuts and smoothed salve on them, and held her hand as she fell in to an exhausted, distraught sleep.  
  
A little over a week later  
  
Calime stood near a wall, a cup of ale in her had, watching Merry and Pippin dance on a table surrounded by laughing onlookers. She smiled softly to herself at their antics, but she didn't join in on the merrymaking. The pain of leaving 'home' was still too raw. Before long, her Elven ears were ringing from the loud singing and her heart was heavy, so she set down her untouched cup of ale and slipped from the hall and into the crisp, clear night.  
  
Standing outside on the edge of the terrace was a cloaked figure. Calime grinned in spite of herself.  
  
"Hello, Legolas."  
  
"Calime," he replied. A smile spread over his fair face as he reached for her hand. "How are you?"  
  
"I am better. Why are you out here all by yourself?"  
  
"It was too loud. I needed some quiet." Calime murmured her agreement, and they both fell silent.  
  
Several moments had passed when Legolas removed his hand from hers and, before she could protest, wrapped his green cloak around her, then slipped his arm around her waist, pulling her closer. Calime looked up and her green eyes met his crystalline blue ones. Their gazes held for several long, breathless moments before Legolas leaned his head down to hers. Their lips met softly. As the kiss ended, Calime grinned up at him.  
  
"What was that for?" Legolas didn't answer, just pulled her closer and, burying one hand in her raven hair, kissed her more deeply and tenderly than she had ever been kissed before. Her arms slipped around his neck, pulling him closer to deepen the kiss, and neither stopped the kiss until they heard a throat clearing suggestively.  
  
"Aragorn, why do you always have the best timing?" Calime groaned.  
  
Solsken: Sunshine in Swedish. (IE 'Sun'ni.)  
  
Reviewers:  
  
Lil Eimeim: Thanks!! Aren't you always hyper? LOL, that's okay, so am I! Being hyper is fun!! Aww, baby cousins are great, don't you think? Erin is a great name!! And thanks for reviewing my poem!  
  
Nilimade: Thanks. I plan to keep on writing. ;)  
  
FrodoFever: Thanks tons!! ;) I hope you can read more soon!! Yup, my policy is: y'all read and review, I write. ;)  
  
Legolas's Bride: LOL, you crack me up!! I took part of your idea? Huh? I want a Legolas!! Hey, who said anything about Legolas finding Calime?  
  
Inwe: Thanks! Sorry, my computer has been sick, so to speak and won't let me upload chapters and I was busy with soccer. Sorry! Read and review please!!  
  
Lainfaer: I love Pippin! He's so sweet and adorable. Legolas is great, and so is Faramir. At least, I think so! Thanks!  
  
Elenya: Thanks! I'm glad you liked it!! I keep MYSELF in suspense until the last minute, usually, so no promises! Keep reading and reviewing, please!!!  
  
VampireKat(?): Thanks for liking my story! And thanks for the other stuff you said. Life has been pretty crazy for a while, but it's starting to look up, hopefully! Keep reading and reviewing, please!! 


	21. The End Almost

Disclaimer: Do you honestly believe that I own Lord of the Rings? I didn't think so. You know what I own, the rest is Tolkien's.  
  
From now on, Author's Notes will be on the bottom of the chapters. :-)

NAN-separation between segments, because I can't use tilde's and asterisks anymore.

Calime blushed furiously as Aragorn raised one eyebrow suggestively.  
  
"Um, I think I need to, um—," Calime stammered. "Um, I'm just gonna go now."  
  
Aragorn smirked as she brushed past him and into the long hall leading to their quarters. Stopping to lean against a wall, she buried her face in her hands as her body started to tremble. A foreign sounding laugh echoed through the halls, and she was startled for a moment 'Wow, haven't heard that in a long time.' Her musings were cut short by the sounds of yelling and two cloaked figures running past her. Pausing only a second, she ran after Aragorn and Legolas.  
  
When Calime reached the room that held their sleeping quarters, Pippin sat cowering on the floor. Gandalf held a cloak bundled in his arms. 'That must be the Palantir.' Crossing the room in three long strides, she kneeled next to Pippin. Merry joined her on the floor a moment after.  
  
"What did you say, Peregrin Took?" Gandalf demanded. "Did you say where Frodo is? Speak, you fool of a Hobbit!"  
  
"I didn't say anything about Frodo, Gandalf, I promise!!" Pippin stammered. His body shook under Calime's arm, and she gave him a calming squeeze. 

NAN

The remains of the Fellowship- Aragorn, Gimli, Merry, Legolas, and Calime- were camped at Dunharrow. It was their last night- in the morning they would ride to battle. Butterflies rode battle formations through her stomach and her hands shook from nerves. 'Holy Bejesus, Cal, get a grip! You've been in how many battles?' she thought to herself, but that didn't stop the nerves.  
  
'Pretty soon Elrond'll be here to give Aragorn the sword,' she estimated. 'Then he and Legolas and Gimli will leave to find reinforcements. Théoden will die in the next battle. There are only two more battles. God, I hope Frodo and Sam are okay.'

NAN

Green smoke-like people flooded around Calime as she fought tooth and nail against the never-ending stream of orcs and Uruk-hai in the large expanse of land around Minas Tirith. Blood flowed from the cuts on her arms that had opened up and bruises covered most of her face and legs, and she was fairly certain that she'd never be able to do an arabesque penechèe again due to the fact that a half-dead orc had fallen square on her, knocking her to the rocky ground on her hip, but she had never felt more alive. Adrenaline flowed through her veins and a silly grin covered her face as she ruthlessly slaughtered everything that crossed her path. Nearby, Legolas's and Gimli's familiar voices rang out numbers: "Seventeen!" "Ah! Thirty two!" Calime was fairly certain that she had killed more than that, but she had lost count at twenty five. That had been more than an hour before.  
  
A surge of green smoke passed her, killing orcs as it went. And then the battlefields were cleared. All that remained were the bodies of fallen men and orcs. The fighting ceased. Around her, men stood, bewildered.  
  
'One down, one to go,' was all that Calime could think. Well, that and 'I think I need a drink. A big one.'

NAN

"Frodo needs a way to get up to Mount Doom without being seen by the eye of Sauron. If we can make the eye focus on something else, Frodo can make it up to Mount Doom and destroy the ring," Gandalf said.  
  
"Keep Him blind to all else that moves," Aragorn interjected.  
  
"A diversion!" Legolas pitched in.  
  
"Well, isn't that a clever idea?" Calime muttered jokingly. Gimli smirked- he was the only one that heard her.  
  
"Are you suggesting that we have another battle?" Calime ventured, already knowing- and not liking- the answer. Before anyone could say anything, she brushed past Legolas and Aragorn and out of the throne room and into the corridor.

Legolas followed Calime from the hall where the Fellowship had met to a large courtyard. A few people wandered around the open area, but it was mostly deserted.  
  
"What's wrong with you, Calime? You've been in battles before! You seemed to rather enjoy that last one, as I recall. How could one more make any difference?" Legolas exclaimed, grabbing her arm. She shook his hand loose.  
  
"It doesn't matter, okay? We'll fight some more, a bunch more people will get killed, Frodo will try to keep the Ring, and then it will all be over and we can go on with our merry lives, right?"  
  
"What are you talking about? Don't you want the war to end?"  
  
"Of course I do! But it's not my home, and I don't want to go back to Lothlorien! I want to go home!" Her body shook angrily. "I want to do gymnastics and ride horses with my mother and see my brothers, but I can't and I don't want to because I'm in love with you, you fool!"

NAN

"Let the Lord of the Black Land come forth! Let justice be done upon Him!"  
  
After a time, the Black Gate opened.  
  
"Pull back, pull back!" Aragorn yelled. "Hold your ground! Hold your ground! Sons of Gondor, of Rohan. My brothers. I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me! A day may come, when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of Fellowship, but it is not this day! An hour of wolves and shattered shields when the age of men comes crashing down! But it is not this day! This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good earth, I bid you, stand, men of the West!"

Next to Calime stood Gimli and Legolas.  
  
"Never thought I'd die side by side with an elf."  
  
"How about side by side with a friend?"  
  
"Aye, that'll do." Calime laughed nervously at the exchange, and Legolas softly squeezed her hand.  
  
"For Frodo!" Aragorn boomed as he charged forward toward the ugly beasts that had stood between the Fellowship and their goal just one too many times.  
  
"For Frodo!!" Pippin and Merry charged forward as well.  
  
'Aw, hell, it's almost over.'  
  
They fought, though for how long she could not be sure, and then there was a surge, and a great shaking of the ground. Cheers rose among the Rohirrim and the Men of Gondor as the great, lidless eye bursts into flames. The tower of the fortress of Barad-dur falls, the great eye giving a sweeping glance before falling to the rest on the crumbled rock. A great wave passed over the land as the armies of Mordor fell, dead. Calime joined into the cheering. 'It's over!!! It's finally over!!'

NANANANANANANAN

A/N: The next chapter is the last, y'all!!! SO SAD!! I'm going to miss this story, y'know? I'm not sure how I want to end it yet, so any suggestions would be very appreciated!!  
  
A/N: "" is dialogue. '' is a train of thought.  
  
A/N: Sorry, y'all, if I have screwed with the way the story and/or movie goes!! I haven't seen LOTR 3 since January, and I haven't read the books since 7th grade, so I'm basically pulling this out of my bum. LOL, I hope you guys don't mind!! :-)  
  
PLEASE see my profile for an important note. You don't have to, but it would help me a lot. Thanks!! :-)  
  
ALSO: Please check out my new websites!!! They love to have all of your feedback!!!  
  
Reviewers:  
  
Sorry, no time for personal notes!!! Thanks mucho to:  
  
Inwe  
  
VampireKat69  
  
Banana4422  
  
Littlekittykat  
  
Legolas'sBride/Petra/TheElvenSistersinLaw, etc.  
  
Eamane-elf (thanks for the suggestions!!)  
  
Lil EimEim (you rock, chica!!)  
  
Lainfaer (I hope you're calling Aragorn a nitwit and not me, lol)  
  
Rina (bite me. You obviously didn't even READ the story) 


	22. Epilogue

NAN  
  
To Dream of Elves: Epilogue  
  
NAN  
  
The next few months passed uneventfully for Calime. Aragorn was crowned the ruler of Gondor, and he and Arwen had been married only a few weeks after. Legolas and Gimli had gone to help rebuild some of the towns along with a band of elves and dwarves. Gandalf was back to doing whatever he had been doing before the War of the Ring. Calime had stayed with the Hobbits in Rivendell, causing mischief and mayhem until the four had decided to venture for home. Left with nothing to do, Calime had departed for Lothlorien to make amends with her father and to learn the ancient art of Elven healing.  
  
Months had passed, and then years. She got letters from Sam, Frodo, Pippin and Merry every few weeks. Sam had gotten married to Rosie Cotton, and Sam had twelve children all together, and became Mayor of Hobbiton.  
  
Frodo had finished Bilbo's story and had gone over the sea with a ship of elves.  
  
Merry and Pippin had each gotten married, and each had children of their own.  
  
More years passed, and although she had seen the hobbits all off across the sea to the Undying Lands, she remained in Lothlorien. Only a few elves remained, including her father. Aragorn and Arwen both passed into the Eternal Realm, and their son took the throne, yet still Calime waited. She was patient in her waiting, something she never had been before. Although she knew to wait, she wasn't sure what she was waiting for, and so she calmly studied the methods of healing.  
  
And one day, what she had been waiting for arrived, on a white horse.  
  
"Legolas!" Calime ran into his arms, and he kissed her softly on each cheek.  
  
"My love, I am sorry to have kept you so long."  
  
"That is alright. As long as we're together now."  
  
"Of course we're together. And we always will be."  
  
"Always?"  
  
"Always."  
  
A few days later, they sailed over the sea and into the Undying Lands, joined for all eternity in love and trust.  
  
FIN  
  
A/N: Well, you guys, it's the end!!!!!!!!! So sad, isn't it?? As of now, I'm not planning a sequel, but if there's enough interest (and you give me some ideas!!) I'll write one! In the meantime, check out my new story on fictionpress (my sn is the same). It's basically an idea that's been running around my head for awhile. AND REVIEW!!!  
  
I plan to have more stories up on here soon enough. In the meantime, check out broadwaydancer's stories (on here and fictionpress). Actually, I don't know whether they're up yet, but they'd be worth checking when they come up. (BroadwayDancer is my friend Piper, and she's quite good at writing)  
  
Reviewers:  
  
In the Depp End: Thanks! Yeah, it's all over, the Ring is dead. :(  
  
Lil EimEim: Thanks!! Yeah, I'm really unhappy about how the last chapter turned out, so I think I'm going to have to redo it. I hope you like the ending!!!  
  
Dragon101: LOL, I'm sorry!!!! I hope this ending works for you!!! Thanks for reviewing!!  
  
The Elven Sister in Laws: Thanks for your review. Ew, does it really smell that bad? I've never fenced, myself, but I've always wanted to. I'm considering a sequel but I'm unsure right now about where I'd want to take it. I hope this ending works for you, though!!!  
  
Lainfaer: Yup, this chapter's the last!!! :-( I hope you liked it!!!! I've got more stories coming up, so check them out!!! Muchas gracias!!  
  
Inwe: Sorry!!! I think this story has just about run its course. I'm trying to think of a sequel, but I think it will be a crossover. Not sure yet. Thanks so much, all the same!!! I might or might not write another LOTR fic, but I've kind of lost interest in the whole thing. Thanks for liking this one, though!!  
  
SofiaB: I'm sorry you didn't come across it sooner, too!! I'm glad you like it, though!! Thanks for reviewing!!  
  
VampireKat69: Aw, I'm sorry!!!! I don't really want to end it, but I think its run it's course. Is it okay if I make my next story a Harry Potter one? LOL. Thanks so much for reviewing!!  
  
COME ON MY FAITHFUL READERS!! LET'S HIT 100 REVIEWS!!!! 


End file.
